The Death Array
by Dr. Bross
Summary: James Heckler is back to inflitrate a base taken over by Hawke's Black Hole. It seems that before Sturm died, Black Hole had build two Death Rays... The second one is able to wipe out cities, and worst of all, it's mobile...
1. Chapter 1: Opening Inflitration

-Advance Wars 2  
  
--Death Array  
  
---Chapter 1: Opening Infiltration  
  
I had thought... I had though Black Hole was over with. We had beaten Sturm, totaled his forces, scattered what was left of his followers. There was no way they could have possibly present any further of a threat to us. Especially when I thought Eagle was breathing down their necks after what they did to Green Earth. But I couldn't have been more wrong.  
  
After the second Black Hole War, people had begun to forget my real name, James Heckler, and began to call me by an insignia codename. "Crazy Wolf". Mainly because I ran off so reckless going after Lash and Flak. I was out to kill them, or on a hunt as many soldiers have joked with me. However, my COs told me I should consider it an honor since a title usually reserved for COs was so unanimously given to me.  
  
Now I'm some... legend or some crap like that. I have to admit though, I don't really look the part. The effects of Lash's mutations weren't completely reversed. My blond hair was slowly getting darker over the years, and my green eyes were looking reddish nowadays. At least my skin hadn't turned blue or anything like that. But most of all, it hurt to smile anymore since my skin was put through so much trauma.  
  
And here I was again, sitting in the briefing room of a cruiser on it's way to an island just off the coast of Orange Star. It turns out... Black Hole had built two Death Rays before Sturm kicked the bucket... and the second one is mobile. Or so Hawke says, there's still a lot we don't know about it.  
  
Nell was there in the briefing room, sitting cross from me with an expectant face, after asking me the question of a solo mission.  
  
"Why me?" I asked. "Why are you picking me? I'm a vehicle specialist... Not a... renaissance man."  
  
"You know them better than anyone else in our forces. Heckler, you WERE one of them. Besides, you're the only operative of ours to go on a solo mission, even if it wasn't an assigned one."  
  
"For a week... maybe a month... it wasn't long enough to turn me into some super soldier." I argued. "What you're asking is a voluntary motion to throw myself back into the hellhole that is Black Hole."  
  
"Why is that any different than your little vendetta against Lash and Flak?" Nell reminded me.  
  
"Cause I thought... I thought I had nothing to lose..."  
  
"That's not true."  
  
I looked up to Nell almost enraged. How could she have known? She didn't know what it was like to be turned into an alien... just so some twisted little girl could have some fun in-between wiping out millions of people.  
  
"You had your humanity didn't you? What would have you admitted if you didn't go after them?"  
  
"Alright," I gave in. "What's the situation?"  
  
-------------------------  
  
Nell had handed me over to Sami once I had given her the answer "yes". The situation was like this see. Black Hole had taken over an island that was once thought as simply just driftwood. Crappy security, little forces on base, and a lot of ground to cover since the base weaved it's way throughout the entire island. North Sunders they called it. But when Black Hole moved in and took over, we found out it was a secret weapons facility, not just something we inherited from the second war.  
  
Now they had it all to themselves. And with a blizzard surrounding the island and a 24 hour deadline, the only way to get in was with one man. Lucky me.   
  
I had two mission objectives: one, rescue the two hostages Black Hole got when they took over. They had Andy who was on the base for a training exercise in countering invasions. Jess's forces was the opposing side, and she was captured too. My second objective, was to find their Death Ray and either take it out or mark it for a bombing run.   
  
Method of insertion? Parachuting, which was never my strong point. Now I had to do it in a blizzard, limited line of sight and all. I was given some binoculars, and able to take my handgun of choice, a USP. They said if I was given anything else, I wouldn't make it down being so heavy. Anything else was to be OSP (on-site procurement). Which means I'd be raiding the armory once I got there.  
  
The jump down wasn't exactly fun. I'd rather not describe it, cause then I would look like some floundering rookie. Only Olaf's boys could take a jump in a blizzard like it was first nature. But the landing was much better than the jump, and I hit my insertion spot dead on. It was a little dock directly below the facility. Oh yeah, that was another thing. The whole base was propped up on a cliff, it was a wonder how they built the damn thing in the first place.  
  
When I touched down on the roof of the submarine bay, I cut my chute to let it fly harmlessly out to sea. That way no one could find it. So far, so good. I pressed my ear, to activate my earpiece and radio to the cruiser where Sami was commanding the operation.  
  
"This is Heckler, I've made it onto the submarine base. What's the situation back there?"  
  
"Not much better afraid." Sami answered. "Hawke still insists if we don't give him 100 million credits in the next 18 hours, he'll fry a major city with his Death Ray."  
  
"Great... Looks like I'm on huh?"  
  
"Exactly... But one more thing. I'd rather not call you Heckler, you're on a mission you know."  
  
"Oh no." I muttered. "You're not gonna call me by that stupid codename are you?"  
  
"Come on, Wolf will be fine. I'll leave the other part out."  
  
"But you might as well. I'm 'crazy' to be out here in the middle of the hornet's nest."  
  
"Heh," She laughed. "You sound like Grit."  
  
"Grit huh? Anyway, I'll contact you when I reach the front of the base."  
  
I ended the call and drew my pistol. It was time to get dirty. I began to crawl to the edge of the roof to look out toward the cliff. I had heard there was some kind of elevator I was going to take to get up top. You couldn't imagine my surprise when I saw humans walking the grounds, but it made sense. When I was one of Sturm's aliens... my skin was almost dissolving when I exposed it to cold.  
  
I guess Hawke needed some troops who wouldn't be bothered by the extreme weather out here. The alien troops are probably stationed inside.  
  
I leapt down from the half sunken hangar and ducked behind a trio of oil drums. Now I know why they gave me those binoculars. When I took them out, I got a better look at the soldiers patrolling the dock. Their uniforms were black, but they were carrying AKs... Blue Moon's assault rifle of choice. They had to be from Olaf's ranks, mercenaries or something.  
  
Anyway, I didn't feel like saying hi, and moved on up to the cliff side. Yeah, there was a cargo elevator after all... except I had to wait for it. The elevator was currently up, forcing me to take cover behind some boxes in the freezing storm. It was then two of the guys outside decided to have a talk mere feet away from my hiding spot.  
  
"Hey, did you hear? Winchester wants you to report to the cell block. Says he's got some work for you."  
  
"Hell no." The other exclaimed defiantly. "That would mean walking by those freaky aliens."  
  
"Well, if you don't report to the motor pool, Winchester will hand your ass off to Cyanide."  
  
"What!? Well... uh... err... I gotta go to the bathroom first."  
  
"Sure. Whatever. Just don't be late."  
  
The elevator began to return to the bottom as I thought about the two names I hadn't recognized. From the sound of things, Cyanide and Winchester were some new faces in the Black Hole ranks. I went into the elevator and punched the button to go up while thinking about it. Maybe Sami could find something out...  
  
"Sami? This is Heck... I mean Wolf. Have you heard about anyone named Cyanide or Winchester in Black Hole?"  
  
I swore I heard an angry sigh on her end.  
  
"No... But I know who to ask. I'll get back to you when I get any details."  
  
Well... I don't know what that was all about, but I was sure I would find out later. I readied my handgun as the elevator began to reach the top of the cliff. The front of the base was pretty small... but then again, I bet most of the base is underground. I hurried to move out of plain sight and looked about the area. There was some more of the human soldiers I had seen down at the docks, armed with the same weapons too.  
  
From those two talkative soldiers earlier... it sounded like getting to the motor pool was a good idea. They didn't specifically say they had anyone locked up in the cell blocks... but really, where else are you gonna keep someone you've captured?   
  
I used the parked trucks as cover to crawl my way to the front entrance. With any luck, there had to be some vent covers somewhere. Then bingo, I found one, right next to the huge hangar door-like entrance. But I had to move quickly, and I used bits of my heavy clothing to muffle the shots I took to the clasps holding the vent cover on. If this mission wasn't so time sensitive, I probably could have brought along a silencer.  
  
I'll spare you the nasty details of the ventilation shafts, let's just say they haven't cleaned them in years. But when I reached the end of the vent, I got a call from someone.  
  
"Hello?" I whispered.  
  
"You are the Orange Star operative Wolf right?" A voice asked.  
  
"Actually, the name is... uh... yeah. Wolf. Who are you?"  
  
"This is Sonja of Yellow Comet. I was told you had some questions I could answer."  
  
That's why Sami was so worked up, because she had to turn to Sonja. They had some bad blood, or at least that's what I got out of their meetings. I knew I should have recognized the voice sooner.  
  
"Yeah, you know anyone named Cyanide or Winchester in Black Hole?"  
  
"Of course." She nearly laughed, as if that was the simplest question in the world. "We have intelligence second to none in our country. They are new recruits to Hawke's ranks. Winchester is an expert in all types of environmental combat. He can shrug off snow and rain as if it was child's play, even extreme heat barely phases him."  
  
"That's just great, more specialists for the psychos. Who's Cyanide?"  
  
"Cyanide? She is like a student of Lash. The only other notable quality is that she seems to have a bit of bad luck surrounding her. I've heard stories of guns jamming, soldiers slipping up, and all kinds of freak accidents occurring whenever she is around."  
  
"Oh yeah." I remembered another question of mine. "Where can I find the motor pool?"  
  
"In order to find the cell block? It should be the first building you come across after taking the cargo elevator from the docks."  
  
"Oh... So I'm already in it then..."   
  
It was then I picked up on what she said.   
  
"Hey. How'd you know about the cell block?"  
  
Sonja gave me a sweet laugh as if she was trying to explain calculus to a third grade math student. Like they shouldn't even bother.  
  
"I have my ways. Just contact me if you need to know anything about the base or Cyanide and Winchester."  
  
After I finished up the call, I was just about to punch the vent out when a large black boot came down right in front of the cover. It had to belong to those alien grunts, it just had to. Not to mention I could smell them, it seemed like they hadn't washed them in months. I guess since Sturm died, no one knows who to duplicate the technology, so they have to keep wearing the same suit over and over again.   
  
It's just nasty when you think about it.  
  
I had to wait for the alien guard to walk away before I could go to work on the vent. Somehow I got it undone and quickly crawled out into the motor pool. I was on the other side of the hangar door and it was a big two level parking garage. There was an OS Medium Tank and a GE Recon vehicle parked on my floor. They must have been rounded up from the exercise.  
  
There wasn't too much of the second level that I could get a good view since I was trying to take cover. I only knew that there was some sort of walkway that looked down on the lower level. It figured I would get a call in such an awkward moment. I kept looking for a place to hide as I answered the call.  
  
"Wolf, I forgot to tell you. You might want to try the elevator since the cell blocks are on the lower levels." Sonja began. "Just thought you should know."  
  
"Thanks, anything else you think I should know?"  
  
"Of course, you might have a good opportunity to move around more easily soon. Green Earth is attempting to rescue Jess."  
  
"What? That's crazy. In this storm? Do they even know what kind of position the base is in?"  
  
"That's Eagle for you." Sonja ended the call with.  
  
Almost immediately I could hear alarms going off as the area was showered in red light. My heart nearly stopped, I had thought it was some full alert that there was someone in the base. But the sound of some human over an intercom began to quell my fears.  
  
"Alert! Alert! Radar has sighted enemy copters. All available units report to the heliport immediately! I repeat, all available units to the heliport!"  
  
I slid under the recon truck as fast as I could. It sounded like some stampeded as alien troops began to rush down from the second level and scrambling all over the place. There was a heavy mechanical whine as I strained to watch a second hangar door open up and let the soldiers move out the motor pool. It closed shortly afterward, must be some heavy blast door. I bet even if I had the keys to the Medium Tank, I couldn't get it open with a main turret shot.  
  
The droning alarm stopped, but the red light kept flashing as I got out from under the jeep. It seemed like Sonja was right, it sounded like I had the motor pool all to myself now. Then, another call.  
  
"Wolf? Do you read?" It was Sami. "We've recently received reports that Green Earth is sending some of their troops in for a rescue attempt."  
  
"Old news to me." I responded truthfully.  
  
She knew instantly why too.  
  
"Sonja huh? Well, don't forget. I'm your CO for this mission. Sonja is simply a..." She paused for an awkward moment. "consultant for Orange Star."  
  
"Don't worry ma'am. I know who I get my paycheck from at the end of the day."  
  
She might have smiled if I could have seen her, I wasn't sure. All I knew is that I had a big window of opportunity due to some reckless actions. It would be great if Green Earth could pull it off... but I doubted it from the way the briefing made it sound. The sight of the elevator snapped me out of my daze as I ran over and punched the button.  
  
"I'm going to check the cell blocks ma'am... Maybe they've got Andy or Jess locked up there."  
  
"Proceed, and stay sharp. I'm sure they still have plenty of patrols moving around, and remember, it only takes one."  
  
"Right."  
  
I couldn't help but remember as I got onto the lift, that the guards said Winchester wanted one of them for something. Hopefully... I wouldn't run into any Black Hole VIPs so soon. Just hopefully...  
  
-To be Continued...  
  
--Next Chapter: The Deep Freeze  
  
------------------------------------------  
  
"Hey, hey, hey. You're the Crazy Wolf aren't you?" Winchester sneered.  
  
"What? How do you know..."  
  
He raised his grenade launcher and laughed this high pitched squeal. I swear the look of madness was written all over his face. The green hair, the short stature, he was a nutcase- easy.  
  
"You've made quite a name for yourself 'Wolf'. Lash never did forget about you."  
  
"Where's Jess? I know she's down here!" I yelled at him.  
  
"Oh... her..." He seemed to struggle to remember, then I could tell something clicked as the maniacal grin returned to his face. "I put her on ice."  
  
------------------------------------------ 


	2. Chapter 2: The Deep Freeze

-Advance Wars 2  
  
--Death Array  
  
---Chapter 2: The Deep Freeze  
  
The minute the elevator door opened up, I was blasted with air that was colder than the winds outside. I was caught so completely off guard that I nearly dropped my gun. There was a heavy mist in the air, and when I took a step forward, I nearly slipped on the floor. It was covered with a layer of ice.  
  
"What the hell is going on down here?" I wondered aloud.  
  
The hallway had some pipes running along the walls and I was forced to use them for support as I slipped and slid across the floor. It was like someone set the air conditioner on high for ten years left the faucet running. This was intentional, I'll give you that much.   
  
I steadied myself on the pipes and looked down the hall. It wasn't a very long hall, and there was two sets of doors before it curved left and out of my view.  
  
"Whoa... whoa... holy hell... Whoa!"  
  
I couldn't help but shout in surprise as I barely made it ten feet before slipping and falling to the ground. My gun went flying from my grip. My mouth dropped open in agony as it bounced off of the walls and was turning the corner. It probably would have slid out of sight... if it wasn't for the big black boot that stepped on it and crushed it.   
  
Some of the bullets went off due to the pressure put on them and the person that the leg belonged to yelled out in surprise. I noticed some cleats or ice shoes they were wearing and suddenly wanted a pair of my own. But my priorities changed as a big angry alien soldier finally rounded the corner, his boot all mangled from the bullets that tore into it. He looked at me for a second before raising his gun.  
  
Instantly, I pushed my self back and slid across the ice right back into the elevator that was closing. The metallic plinks soon began to echo out when his bullets began to slam into the metal doors. I punched a button, any button, so long as it moved away from the alien soldier.  
  
When the elevator doors opened up again, I was hit with the most extreme burst of heat I had felt in a long time. The lights were also pretty dim and made the area covered with shadows. What in the hell was going on in this place? Did someone forget to set the thermostat before running after the approaching Green Earth forces? Jeez... I looked around to note a hallway in front of me and another heading right.  
  
"Damn!" I remembered losing my weapon.  
  
Maybe a bit too angrily, I set my radio to Sonja's frequency and called her up.  
  
"I need to find a gun." I almost yelled.  
  
"Why, aren't you rather unpleasant right now. You should know that I'm a CO-"  
  
"Sonja, I need to find a gun now!"  
  
I think at that point she finally caught my drift and got serious. There was some clicking on her end, she was getting her Intel from a computer.  
  
"Got it. There should be an armory on the second basement of the motor pool. You could look there. Where are you?"  
  
"Oh, I'm there."  
  
I ran through the little lobby area and went down a narrow hallway to discover a small room with a trio of doors. Two of them were locked, while the third was wide open. I could only assume in their rush to load up for a confrontation with Green Earth, they had forgot to close the door behind them. You can imagine that I didn't waste anytime ripping open boxes and throwing open lockers.  
  
Finally I found a gun that I was acquainted enough to run through an enemy base with. A Five-seveN with a flashlight attached. I suppose if I ran out of bullets, I could blind the enemy to death. It was always wishful thinking, but I didn't really have time or cared enough to break it down and take it off. Yeah, I admit, I smiled when I saw it was loaded with a full clip.   
  
I usually don't get all that emotional over guns... but I did need a weapon badly.  
  
When I started to head back toward the elevator, I could hear it ding and the doors slide open. I cursed upon seeing three alien grunts with their gun arms ready. There wasn't really anywhere I could hide since I was in the middle of the hallway. All three spotted me and one of them pointed out, the guy who crushed my gun before.  
  
"There he is! Gun the worm down!" He yelled in this guttural tone. "He's after that woman in the cell!"  
  
"Holy hell..." I sprinted back towards the opposite end of the hall as they began to spray the area with lead.  
  
I turned the corner and put my back up against the wall. I was going to have to shoot it out with them, there was nowhere I could run. Before I darted out into the fray, I switched the gun's light on and got ready to fire. Hopefully the bright light at the end of the hall would throw off their accuracy somehow.  
  
When I popped out to fire back, I could see their beady red eyes on their end of the hall and fired back one or two shots. If I took anymore time firing back I would have become a pincushion. I had forgotten how fast the alien gun arms were, they were spitfires with a high pitched whine to add to the chaos. Finally I took another moment to shoot back.  
  
One of them had begun to make his way down the hall, and I promptly tagged him in all the right places. He went down as the other two began to scream in anger... or however an alien sounds like when they're ticked off. It ain't pretty, let me tell you. Another took too many steps forward and I cracked his helmet right between the eyes. In his painful moment of dying, he flopped around the floor and shot up his partner on accident.  
  
I didn't stick around to gloat over beating them. Truth was... a part of me was hurting from taking them down. Maybe Lash's therapy wasn't as reversed as I thought it was.  
  
Something caught my eye before I got back onto the lift, their shoes. Their nice spiked shoes that I wanted before. I grimaced as yanked off the spiked boots from one of them and their suit depressurized. Oh god... that smell... urg... I leapt into that elevator faster than a man set on fire. Now all I had to do was put them on somehow...  
  
At least fifteen minutes of debating with myself later... I was back on the first basement floor, now able to take the ice with relative ease. You don't know what I saw when I put my feet into them but it was worth it. Anyway... I took the first door on the left and entered a long room with cell doors and a desk at the end of the block. I was at the right place, and by the sound of the grunts I took on downstairs... Jess was somewhere in here.  
  
All of the door's windows were all fogged up from the cold temperature, and they were locked as well. I was tempted to shoot out the lock, cause you know... that's the most high tech way to open a locked door nowadays. But I had the feeling was more than capable to thwart my high-tech lock picking.  
  
I was getting frustrated, and then I found the desk at the end of the hall, with a key card on it. Either these alien soldiers were really forgetful, or someone was playing with me. Quickly I went about opening them up with my gun ready, just in case, you know. The first three were empty, and I was sure this last one would be it...  
  
But it was empty just like the other three...  
  
"Gwa ha ha!" A voice cackled from the door to the hall. "Looking for someone? Maybe I can help."  
  
A man walked in, he was really short and his hair was a freaky neon green color. It reminded me of Adder's hairdo in a way. The next thing I noticed was the weapon he carried, a grenade launcher with an ammo drum built like a revolver. And despite his small stature, he must have been wearing ten pounds of gear on his suit. Hell if I know what it did.  
  
I got my gun ready, and pointed it at him.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"Me? I am Winchester. Black Hole Environmental expert."  
  
I had thought as much... maybe his suit was all about resisting the elements. He paused for a second and cocked his head to the side as if sizing me up. A wicked grin began to spread across his face.  
  
"Hey, hey, hey. You're the Crazy Wolf aren't you?" Winchester sneered.  
  
"What? How do you know..."  
  
He raised his grenade launcher and laughed this high pitched squeal. I swear the look of madness was written all over his face. The green hair, the short stature, he was a nutcase- easy.  
  
"You've made quite a name for yourself 'Wolf'. Lash never did forget about you."  
  
"Where's Jess? I know she's down here!" I yelled at him.  
  
"Oh... her..." He seemed to struggle to remember, then I could tell something clicked as the maniacal grin returned to his face. "I put her on ice."  
  
"You what?" I gasped, then I realized something. "Yeah right, where would your hostage go?"  
  
"Surely you've heard of Green Earth's little rescue attempt. It's... a retaliation for their stupidity."  
  
I didn't say anything, I hadn't thought of that.  
  
"You must be Orange Star right? Well, after I'm done taking care of you, Flak will dispose of the little runt Andy. Then, we'll wipe a major city off the map. No one messes with us!"  
  
He fired off a round of his grenade launcher and I desperately dove into the jail cell to escape the blast. I don't know what the hell he was packing those grenades with, but the explosion was devastating. The whole room shook, and the lights cut out for a second before shutting off completely. I turned on the flashlight on my gun... I sure was getting my money's worth out of it.  
  
"You dead yet Wolf?" Winchester squealed giddily.  
  
I don't know how I let him get under my skin like that, but I popped out to fire a couple rounds into him. The metallic plink and some sparks shooting off of his suit told me they didn't do squat. He had flipped down some night vision goggles and raised his grenade launcher again.  
  
"Die worm!"  
  
It was back into the jail cell, except this time the grenade round didn't explode. It simply spewed forth a wall of flame and began to pour smoke into my little 8x9 area. I covered my mouth and desperately looked for a way out.  
  
"How do you like my Incendiary round huh? Pretty snazzy!"  
  
The vent above beckoned as I flipped up the cot and stood on it while beating out the cover with the butt of my gun. It popped up and I was in there as fast as I could go. To my dismay, the vents were even more frozen than the rooms themselves. Icicles acted as icy bars in my way and I had to break them down with my gun. I kept crawling as Winchester's voice began to get fainter.  
  
That crazy son of a...  
  
The next time I jumped down from the vent, I was back out in the main hallway that led to the elevator. I hand landed around the corner and soon Winchester appeared with his grenade launcher cocked and ready.  
  
"Where do you think you are going?" He grinned.  
  
I pointed my flashlight directly into his eyes and overloaded his NVG for a time. His head began to shake as if someone had smacked him and I could hear him howl in pain.  
  
"My eyes! You clever little worm!"  
  
Thank god there was another door at the end of the hallway and I soon found myself running into a generator room. The loud electric hum of the equipment droned out any chance I had of listening for Winchester to enter. I flipped the light on my gun off and simply waited in the darkness. I was going to ambush his crazy ass.  
  
The two generators were in the center making it so I could only dance around these things if I had to run from the green haired lunatic again. I had my finger on the trigger ready, and I strained to hear something other than the electric hum of the generators. I thought I heard some kind of heavy footsteps when another deafening explosion rang out behind me.  
  
It was my turn to be blinded as it was some kind of flash-bang grenade. My senses were thrown into dissolution, I struggled to get them back in order as I spied a dark shadow moving toward me. Blindly, I began to fire out lighting up the area with my muzzle flash. Somehow I stumbled into another area, it was really narrow and a chain link fence blocked off some kind of device, probably the heating and air-conditioning system. When I had finally recovered from Winchester's flash-bang, I could see it was hooked up to some strange device as big as a household furnace or something.  
  
"You like it Heckler?" I heard Winchester call out. "That little doohickey enables me to turn even the most blazing inferno into a freezing white death!"  
  
He rushed in with his grenade launcher pointed toward me and pulled the trigger. I raised my gun and shot the grenade halfway in-between us. This one was a live grenade and tossed us both backwards when it blew up. I could hear a wall crumble as another chamber opened up. God... we were just moving all about this B1 section of the motor pool...  
  
I sprinted through to a huge room with pillars shooting up almost everywhere. It was cover heaven. One wrong shot from Winchester's grenade launcher, and he could bury us both. It figured it didn't stop the little psycho from shooting off more of his grenades. The room lit up as it was another Incendiary round, fire began to spread everywhere. I looked up through some grating to see we were right under the tank and the jeep.   
  
The oil and leaky fuel from the parked vehicles above probably drained into this area, I had just walked into a greased up frying pan.  
  
"Blam! Blam! Blam!" Winchester sang while shooting out more Incendiary rounds. "You don't have to go to hell to fry, you can fry right here!"  
  
"Shut up!" I finally yelled back and opened up on him.  
  
My bullets once again didn't do squat. The gear he wore protected his body too well, and his head was a little small to do a one-hit kill. Not to mention the little weasel never stopped moving! I sprinted away as he fired a live round at me and launched some more metal in all directions. It was then I realized how short of breath I was. He was turning the temperature in this room to suffocating degrees.  
  
My moment came, I could hear him snap open his launcher to reload. I had been waiting for this and ran out. Frantically, he pushed his grenade rounds into the chamber and snapped it shut. We began to wrestle with his weapon and pointed it straight up. Somehow he pulled the trigger and a round went right up to explode below the recon vehicle.  
  
The ground gave out, and the recon jeep came sliding down into our area. We flew away from each other as metal came down in between us. I could hear Winchester yell out in pain as a rather large piece of metal came slamming down on his leg.  
  
"Damn!" He cursed. "My leg! You lucky punk!"  
  
I pointed my gun through the metal and fired on him angrily. I didn't care if I wasn't aiming, maybe I would get lucky on a ricochet.  
  
"It's no use! You can't do squat to me!" He laughed. "You should feel lucky... I won't be killing you today."  
  
I watched as he left his grenade launcher behind and limped off. He was a tough little sucker, it must have been broken. Once I was done watching him leave, I was out of there. I was short of breath and it was so hot I could hardly breathe. There was a grate on the floor and I quickly kicked it out. Damn, I must have been through every vent in the motor pool.  
  
When I jumped down, I fell right into one of the B2 armory rooms that had been locked. My landing was less than perfect, I had tumbled across boxes and rifles knocking them to the floor. I stood up to brush myself off and holster my gun. Then I could feel something, there was someone else in the room. I looked to see a woman tied up and gagged on the opposite wall from the door.  
  
"Jess?" I exclaimed.  
  
-To be Continued...  
  
--Next Chapter: The Crossing Guard  
  
----------------------------------------------  
  
"Worm!" Flak roared out. "Why don't you come out so I can go to work on you with Big Bertha! I heard what you did to Winchester!"  
  
The massive Neotank, which he must have been referring to by Big Bertha, was probably their latest model. I don't know how they got it on the island, but it was bigger than most I've seen. It's shiny shell made it clear to me how recently it had been made, it hadn't even seen combat yet.  
  
"What are you waitin' for worm?" He started again. "Get over here!"  
  
Flak was nuts. There was no way I was going to be caught dead a hundred feet from that thing. All I had was a lousy pistol and an assault rifle. It was impossible to take out Big Bertha with the kind of weapons I had. I needed a damn nuclear missile.  
  
"That's it! Jus' crush him!" Flak ordered.  
  
Running away was out. When that Neotank's main cannon opened fire, it seemed like the whole world stopped turning.  
  
---------------------------------------------- 


	3. Chapter 3: The Crossing Guard

-Advance Wars 2  
  
--Death Array  
  
---Chapter 3: The Crossing Guard  
  
I was quick to untie her and rip off the tape. This was the first time I had met Jess, and I didn't really know a whole lot about her, only that she was some ground specialist for Green Earth and had some friction with Eagle. I heard one time she removed all the tires from his entire fleet after he diverted parts meant for her tank divisions.  
  
"You're the Green Earth ground specialist, Jess, right?"  
  
"You got it." She answered shaking her hands to get the blood flow moving again. "Who are you?"  
  
"I'm... Wolf. Orange Star's man on the inside. I was sent to rescue you. What exactly happened when Black Hole moved in?"  
  
I heard Jess's bones groan a little as she stood up. Man, I wonder how long she had been sitting there?  
  
"Somehow they managed to get some spies in our ranks. During the exercise, I was stationed here and tried to take over Andy's position across the snowfield. Suddenly our own soldiers were shooting one another, it was then I realized we had been made."  
  
That would explain all the guys outside patrolling the grounds. I guess Hawke stole some uniforms and snuck into the drill while it was being performed. When they started taking over, it was too late to do anything about it. Jess also added that the alien troops rushed in from helicopters to make a bad situation worse. They didn't stand a chance.  
  
"I'm also here to rescue Andy. Is he still around here somewhere?"  
  
"No he's not here. After awhile, they split us up. I was tossed down here hoping that no one would bother to search the armory. That man with the green hair said he was planning something."  
  
"You mean Winchester." I told her. "I've met him. Him and his six round grenade launcher."  
  
I saw a smile form on her face.  
  
"So that's why it felt like this base was being bombed. Did you..."  
  
"No, he got away. Broke his leg though."  
  
She moved over to a shelf full of rifles and began to look through it.  
  
"There's another thing I wanted to ask you. While you were running the exercise... Did you come across any suspicious areas?"  
  
"Suspicious areas?" Jess repeated.  
  
"Hawke is threatening Orange Star. He says if we don't give him 100 million credits, he'll activate a prototype Death Ray weapon and fry a major city. We think it's somewhere on this base."  
  
This was obviously news to Jess as she glanced over her shoulder toward me in a surprised way. It also answered some questions, like why they would take over such a so-called worthless base and take hostages.  
  
"Unfortunately no. I didn't see any suspicious areas. But I can tell you that they moved Andy over to the Barracks somewhere. It was where his HQ was stationed."  
  
She paused and then turned around as if deciding something.  
  
"Let's go find that death ray before Hawke can use it."  
  
I was caught off guard for a second by her sudden motion to join me on my little escapades around the base.  
  
"With all due respect ma'am, you should leave the fighting to the frontline grunts like me."  
  
A distant expression washed over her face and she balled her fists.  
  
"You don't understand Wolf, I lost a lot of good men and women during the take over."  
  
Before I could say anymore, I got a call and told Jess to hold on for a second while I answer it. It was Sami.  
  
"Wolf, we have some bad news. Eagle's rescue team has been taken out, half of them didn't even make it to the ground."  
  
"Anti-air shoot down the copters?" I wondered aloud.  
  
"Not exactly. Black Hole has a fighter jet on base."  
  
"It figures. At least I have something good to report. I've successfully rescued Jess."  
  
"Really?" She sounded ecstatic. "Good work!"  
  
"What's going on?" Jess interrupted.  
  
I took a deep breath as if trying to figure out a way to sugarcoat their failed rescue. But I finally decided she could take the direct news. She was after all, a CO who's probably seen more death on the battlefield than I have.  
  
"Eagle sent in a rescue team to save you when this base was taken over. Unfortunately for them, Black Hole has a fighter on hand. Half of them didn't even make it to the ground."  
  
She punched the wall in anger and shook her head.  
  
"Dammit Eagle! You always have to be so stubborn. You should have asked for help..."  
  
"Look I have orders ma'am. I can't let you run off and start shooting the place up."  
  
Now she was looking at me in a stern tone. I guess I had revived her CO instinct.  
  
"I'm not that reckless, soldier. As for the shooting up part, I think you have that area covered pretty well."  
  
Ouch, that was cold. I was thinking about trying to explain that it wasn't me with the grenade launcher blowing up the place. It wasn't my fault, but I was wasting time and I had to speed things up.  
  
"Look, you said something about Barracks. How can I get to them from here?"  
  
"There should be a blast door on the first floor leading out to a snowfield. It's locked right now, but I know the code, I can get you through, across from this building is the Barracks."  
  
That was fine with me, but I made it clear that was only thing she should do. After that, she was going to report directly to the docks for evac. Orange Star had a mini-sub waiting to surface and retrieve her at the end of the pier. It was the only sure fire way of getting out since Black Hole didn't have a sub or cruiser in the area. Judging from my mission, I don't think they had the man power to run those things even if they had it.  
  
But before we left, she fished out an M4 from one of the lockers and threw it to me. I caught it easily. I was well acquainted with this rifle, but I didn't quite understand why she gave it to me. I think a pistol was all I needed if I wanted to stay hidden. Assault rifles aren't exactly the quietest weapon ever made.  
  
"You'll need some heavier weapons for the Barracks. Black Hole is using some sort of new suit for the alien troops."  
  
Fine and good I guess. The M4 could be more useful if they tried to take me out in groups. We took the elevator back up to the first floor and approached the blast door. I made sure we were careful avoiding the big hole in the floor where the recon jeep had slid down into the basement. She punched in the code and the door began to open up. It was there we said our goodbyes and she was off.  
  
I wasn't really worried about her. Most of the soldiers on the docks had been relocated to the heliport to intercept Eagle's rescue team anyway.  
  
I stepped out onto the snowfield to see that the storm was still hanging around. Visibility was a tad bit better, but it wasn't much. I could notice two buildings in the distance, the Barracks which were directly ahead of me, and a building I didn't recognize off to the left. I must have taken two steps before a siren began to blare from the Barracks.  
  
A hangar door located to the right of the Barrack's main entrance had begun to open up. It was then a Neotank began to roll forward out into the field. I stopped dead in my tracks once I spotted the black paint job. The exhaust vents on it's underside were almost generating a small smokescreen. It's engine had been revved up a long time ago.  
  
It was definitely waiting for me.  
  
Once it had left the hangar, it came to a dead stop and switched into walking mode so that it's wheel-like treads wouldn't get stuck in the snow. I simply watched and waited until it got halfway across the field and the hatch popped open. Someone I recognized very well appeared. Big muscled Flak, the powerhouse of Black Hole. I took him on once, hand to hand, and I won't lie to you... he kicked my ass.  
  
"Holy hell..." I muttered.  
  
"Worm!" Flak roared out. "Why don't you come out so I can go to work on you with Big Bertha! I heard what you did to Winchester!"  
  
The massive Neotank, which he must have been referring to by Big Bertha, was probably their latest model. I don't know how they got it on the island, but it was bigger than most I've seen. It's shiny shell made it clear to me how recently it had been made, it hadn't even seen combat yet.  
  
"What are you waitin' for worm?" He started again. "Get over here!"  
  
Flak was nuts. There was no way I was going to be caught dead a hundred feet from that thing. All I had was a lousy pistol and an assault rifle. It was impossible to take out Big Bertha with the kind of weapons I had. I needed a damn nuclear missile.  
  
"That's it! Jus' crush him!" Flak ordered.  
  
Running away was out. When that Neotank's main cannon opened fire, it seemed like the whole world stopped turning.   
  
Snow, dirt, and fire went everywhere. I hadn't realized it at the time, but the blast had flipped me into the air. Damned if I know when I landed, I just remembered waking up face down in the snow. I realized that Flak couldn't spot me while I was ducked down in the snow since it was so high.  
  
"Quit hidin' worm! Get up so I can blast you!" He continued to yell.  
  
I could hear the rattling of the Neotanks mounted gun as he began to spray the area with lead. The deep thumps of bullets falling all around me told me to keep low and just crawl through the snow. Anywhere, so long as it was away from brawny and brainless and his shiny new Big Bertha. Maybe if I scratched his paintjob, he'd get really angry and run away crying.   
  
Yeah ok, I like being sarcastic when my luck is down.  
  
Truth was, I wasn't going to commit suicide and try to take out his tank without some serious backup. And since I wasn't going to be getting any, it was time to head for the hills. Somehow I had made it to the building I hadn't recognized and finally stood up. Flak was nowhere near me but it took only seconds for him to whip his big helmeted head in my direction and redirect his pilot.  
  
It must have been a manual Neotank. It proved they could still build it, but without the computer AI Sturm was accustomed to installing.  
  
I found some double doors and jumped in as Flak fired off another Neotank round. The doorway I had just gone through turned into a heap of scrap metal and I was sent rolling forward into a stack of oil drums.  
  
"Damn you Flak!" I couldn't help but yell in frustration.  
  
It was only his lack of aiming skills that left me alive after blasts like that, and I guess I should feel lucky or thank him somehow. When I stood up, I already had the feeling I had gone the wrong direction, because all the signs I was looking at read "Fuel Depot". The whole frame of the structure shook as Flak fired another tank round into the building. I had to get out fast before it collapsed or something.  
  
The tank must have been right outside because the ground was rumbling. Now that I think about it, a building might not have been the best way to describe it. It was more like a shed or guard station because I had soon come out the back onto an asphalt field packed full of oil drums and tanker trucks. Man, I had to get out of the open before Flak shoved a tank round down my throat.  
  
My eyes darted around to notice that the depot was fenced off in nearly every direction. The depot was also dotted with small warehouses, and I leapt into the first one I found, locking the door at the same time. When you think about it, what the hell is that going to do? Stop him? He's driving a Neotank for crying out loud. Funny as it sounds, it made me feel safe.   
  
The stacks of crates and metal barrels began to shake and clatter together as Flak brought his tank into the depot. He must have run down the fence on one side and come in. I ducked down behind a box as he rolled by. Since there wasn't any trouble spots for the treads, it'd be really damn hard trying to outrun him. The tank would slow down as he peered through the frosted windows.  
  
I held my breath.... and thank god he didn't see me. But the depot wasn't big, and I figured he could only hold his trigger finger steady before leveling the whole place with his tank. There had to be someway out of this place that doesn't involve getting blown up, shot up, or run over by Flak's Neotank. That reminded me of someone I could turn to, Sonja.  
  
"What's up Wolf?"  
  
"Flak has me trapped in the Fuel Depot. I need to get out of here before he blows the whole place to kingdom come!"  
  
"First, I want you to calm down." She began in a quiet voice.  
  
Strange as it sounds, she pretty much got me under control. Her voice was so full of confidence I guess... as if she could never be wrong. But I knew that was far from the case. Still...  
  
"What's going on?" Sami burst into the conversation.  
  
"It seems your operative is trapped in a Fuel Depot. I was going to explain to him that Flak's tank is equipped with safety measures so he can't blow the whole place up with one reckless shot."  
  
"Safety measures?" I repeated.  
  
Sonja gave a polite little laugh. It was hard to talk to her without feeling a little stupid, but I just had to deal with it for now.  
  
"Hawke is too smart to let Flak rampage around the base. Accidents happen, frequently with him. So he had Lash install certain measures on the tank. As long as Flak is on the Depot grounds, his main cannon will be inoperative."  
  
That sure as hell didn't make me feel any better.  
  
"Well, that's just great. So now instead of being vaporized, I'm just gonna get shot to death."  
  
"Do you always have to be so pessimistic?" Sonja practically groaned.  
  
"Sonja! Quit wasting time, tell him how to get out of there." Sami demanded.  
  
"Calm down, the both of you. I'm glad one of us can still remain reasonable. Wolf, I want you to look outside. Do you see any manholes?"  
  
Manholes? What the hell was she talking about? When I asked where, she said outside and I carefully moved toward one of the windows. It was easy to avoid Flak, mainly because the whole area would shake when he rolled by. Strangely enough, I did see a manhole outside. But it was pretty far out. Flak would definitely spot me if I moved out of the warehouse.  
  
"All right Sonja, what's this about?" I asked her.  
  
"That manhole leads to the base's drainage system. I'm sure you could make your way out of the Fuel Depot without having to face Flak."  
  
She didn't have to say anymore. It was simply a matter of timing on my part. Flak had just recently passed by, so I decided to take a chance. I rushed out and dashed over the manhole and began to try and pry it from the ground. The first time I tugged on it, I realized it was almost frozen to the ground. I mean I REALLY had to work on it, then my heart began to race as Flak was coming back around.  
  
I might have heard him yell something out, it's fuzzy in my mind. Mostly because of the gunfire that droned out his yelling. Somehow, I yanked the manhole cover up and used it as a shield before jumping down the hole and letting the cover fall back down into place. As I fell down, I think I could vaguely hear the inhuman roar of Flak in anger.  
  
-To be Continued  
  
--Next Chapter: Underground Access  
  
----------------------------------------------------  
  
Damn, I had never been anywhere so dark before. I was pointing the flashlight in all directions to make sure I wouldn't go walking into a wall. I swear I heard someone down here. Mumbling about something. Then I saw some used casings. It was like a trail, and I followed it until my light illuminated a leg in the darkness.  
  
I could see a green trench coat. Must have belonged to a guy in Eagle's rescue team. He was slumped up against the wall with his head down. I assumed he crawled his way from the battlefield to rest and never woke up. I had intended to keep moving, leave the dead undisturbed you know? But suddenly a hand reached up and grabbed my leg!  
  
----------------------------------------------------- 


	4. Chapter 4: Underground Access

-Advance Wars 2  
  
--Death Array  
  
---Chapter 4: Underground Access  
  
That landing was a painful one, let me tell you. Not to mention it was pitch black when the manhole cover slammed down into place. I took out my handgun and switched on the light so I could tell where I was. I saw a wide running stream full of... you know... nasty sewer stuff, and tons of pipes. Yeah, Sonja was right about the drainage system.  
  
"Wolf? Are you there? Did you escape?" I could hear Sami ask me.  
  
"Yeah, I'm good. It's really dark down here though, and the flashlight on my gun doesn't really do a very good job of lighting the way."  
  
"Don't worry, you should be able to follow it to other parts of the base." Sonja assured me.  
  
"Keep moving, there's no telling what Hawke will do after Green Earth's failed rescue attempt. Oh yes, and we picked up Jess from the docks. She's safe and sound."  
  
"Good to hear, I'll let you know when I reach the barracks."  
  
Another thing that I didn't feel like mentioning to Sami was my fear that Flak would get pissed that I didn't dance with him and his tank and send troops down into this stink hole. If they sent alien troops, I'd be in trouble since they had night vision and thermal sensors built into the suits. I had a lousy flashlight and stuck out like a sore thumb.  
  
I moved at a good pace, making sure I didn't fall into the nasty water that ran along side me. For awhile, I thought that the sewer tunnel would never end. But I came across a section of the wall that had either collapsed or been blown up and it led into a cave like area, away from the sewer. Hopefully, this would take me to the Barracks. Hell, it's not like I could get a good idea of my bearings anyway.  
  
There were some lights hung from the wall, but they were all busted or burned out. That told me this little passageway hadn't been used since the base had been built. It was probably an addition to the sewer system that never got past the planning stages. All the boxes and empty crates lining the wall made me nervous. Anyone of them could have been hiding an enemy soldier.  
  
Then up ahead, I swore I heard a voice. It was more like a whisper. My muscles tensed up and I tightened my grip on the pistol. I must have stood there for at least ten minutes before moving again. It was dead silent.  
  
Damn, I had never been anywhere so dark before. I was pointing the flashlight in all directions to make sure I wouldn't go walking into a wall. I swear I heard someone down here. Mumbling about something. Then I saw some used casings. It was like a trail, and I followed it until my light illuminated a leg in the darkness.  
  
I could see a green trench coat. Must have belonged to a guy in Eagle's rescue team. He was slumped up against the wall with his head down. I assumed he crawled his way from the battlefield to rest and never woke up. I had intended to keep moving, leave the dead undisturbed you know? But suddenly a hand reached up and grabbed my leg!  
  
"Freeze!" The man ordered.  
  
I slowly glanced down to see an MP 40 loosely cradled in his other arm. If he pulled the trigger, he wouldn't have too much control over it, but the first couple shots would be enough to take me down. It kind of made me mad to just brush him off like that. I should have checked to see if he was really dead.  
  
"Set your pistol on the floor... slowly."  
  
He drifted off into silence and then looked up at me. That big green helmet shielded most of his face, so I all I saw was the guy's nose and mouth. Not much to describe someone when you really think about it.  
  
"Hey, you're not Black Hole." He seemed to realize.  
  
I made my move and stepped back so his hand couldn't hold onto my leg anymore. I shined the light right in his face. When he shot up his hands to cover his eyes, I took my other foot and kicked away his gun.  
  
"Now you freeze!" I told him.  
  
"Hey, hey. I'm sorry, I thought you were one of them." The soldier apologized.  
  
He then took off his helmet to reveal a head full of black hair. Not to mention the guy had a bad five-o-clock shadow. His eyes showed how tired he was. The guy was probably using every ounce of strength to stay awake incase suckers like me came along.  
  
"No, I'm not Black Hole. The name is Wolf. I'm Orange Star." I explained to him.  
  
"Orange Star huh? Well, good to see someone who isn't wearing black. The name is Groling."  
  
"Were you part of Eagle's rescue team?"  
  
"Yeah... I guess I was part of the lucky group. I actually got on the ground." Groling paused to laugh. "It may not seem like it, but we had some planning put into this."  
  
"Hey, I didn't say anything."  
  
"Oh, you don't have to. I can read people really well. You're probably thinking Eagle rushed us in as fast he could manage. But we had a plan. Black Hole just had more men than we anticipated. I'd blame it on bad Intel."  
  
I looked over Groling when he paused to search his pockets for something. His trench coat was in reasonable condition, but when I looked at his other leg, it had been hit pretty bad. You could almost wonder why he didn't bleed out or something.  
  
"Hey, your leg is pretty messed up. Why didn't you give it medical attention?" I asked while leaning down to apply first aid.  
  
"Oh, that's cause I've been running for the past half an hour. Black Hole was sweeping the whole heliport. Cleanup, makin' sure they whacked everyone."  
  
He finally pulled out a pack of cigarettes and removed one when I finished up doctoring his leg. You didn't have to be Sonja to figure out what he was looking for next, as his hands went back to searching his pockets.  
  
"Hey, I thought it was against Green Earth regulation to have cigarettes on a mission."  
  
Groling looked at me as if to make sure I was serious. Well, I suppose it doesn't matter if you're sitting in enemy territory with a busted leg and just escaped from your unit being wiped out.   
  
"You can find ways around it." He fished out some matches. "That reminds me, get my gun. You knocked it out of my hands in the first place."  
  
I walked over to his submachine gun and picked it off the floor. When I handed it back to him, it seemed to relax him a bit. From my perspective, it also completed the picture I was accustomed to seeing when I thought of Green Earth infantry.  
  
"How'd you get down here?"  
  
"Well, after we descended from the first chopper, the second one was lining up to unload the second team. Unfortunately, that's when Hawke found us. Blew the whole second chopper to hell. Those alien weirdoes began to storm the heliport and we tried to get into a position we could defend."  
  
Groling paused to take out a match and struck it against his gun. The cigarette cast an eerie glow around his face and would illuminate his hand when he took it out of his mouth.  
  
"Well, we began to move down. Three floors later, we hit the bottom. Except there's even more Black Hole scum waiting for us down there than there was on the helipad. We got backed into a moldy looking storage area. My leg got blasted, and I fell down here through a hole in the floor."  
  
"So you're saying this passage leads to the heliport?"  
  
He looked up at me and raised an eyebrow. I had just realized I groaned on my last sentence.  
  
"You sound disappointed. Did you think my sad story would be a bit more dramatic?" Groling asked angrily, and rightfully so.  
  
"No... It's not that. It's just I'm trying to head toward the barracks..."  
  
"Oh. On the second floor of the heliport, there's a walkway that will take you to the first floor of the barracks. You see, the helipad is built on a cliff, so it's lower than the rest of the facility." He paused. "You basically went under your target area."  
  
It made sense, and I was a little bit more optimistic about my chances of mission success. I just hoped Black Hole didn't get clever and moved Andy back to the motor pool. Then I noticed Groling seemed to be nodding off.  
  
"Hey, you gonna be ok?" I asked him.  
  
"I'm tired man. I just want... a couple winks... three... forty-two...zzzzzzzzzz."  
  
And he was gone, just like that. His snoring almost kicked in immediately. It was like something out of a cartoon. I was hesitant to just leave him there, but it didn't seem like anyone was after me, and I really didn't have the time to sit around and wait. Personally, I'd think he'd be dead all ready if Black Hole was looking for him. I tried to walk off and he called out to me in a sleepy voice.  
  
"Hey... I'll... catch up... I got a radio... keep in touch... zzzzzzzzzz."  
  
-------------------------  
  
Before Groling went back to sleep, we exchanged frequencies and I took off toward the Helipad. His story checked out when I came across an area that was littered with all kinds of garbage. There was so much busted stuff that I could easily climb up into the first floor of the helipad. I holstered my pistol when I lifted myself up out of the underground passage and readied my M4.  
  
But that's as far as I got before stumbling upon a really nasty scene.  
  
The Green Earth guys must have put up one hell of a fight, because the storage area I was in was littered with bullet holes, casings, and plenty of blood from both sides. That's all I'll say about that. But it was bad, really bad. The smell alone was more than enough to get my feet moving in a hurry. I burst into the hallway gasping for fresh air, and I might as well yelled out "I'm right here!" at the top of my lungs.  
  
Luckily for me, there wasn't anyone around. Just me and a rectangular hallway with various windows on one side, overlooking the other shore of the island. Groling wasn't kidding when he said this part of the base was perched on a cliff, it was practically dangling over the ocean. After checking for cameras and any sentries, I could take the time to realize that heliport was different that the other parts of the base I had been in.  
  
Instead of cold gray hallways, the walls in this building were painted a bright copper color. Reminded me of orange road cones. All the doors I came across had little windows that I looked in. When I moved to look into one of the windows, the door opened up and I nearly went head first into a pair of alien soldiers. I ducked back into an open room that looked like and office and watched them as they walked away from me. The two aliens could barely get around the corner when a human soldier sprinted up to them and waved his hands around. He looked pretty anxious.  
  
"Guys what's going on? The door to the Barracks is jammed!"  
  
"Jammed?" One alien repeated. "Ha, it is not jammed. It is locked."  
  
You should have seen the guy's color drain out of his face.  
  
"Locked? What the hell for?" He exclaimed.  
  
"There is an intruder on the base. Commanders Flak and Winchester have fought him already. We must keep this area locked down and secure. No one gets in or out, until the intruder is dealt with."  
  
"Aw come on... Can't you guys open it up and let me through? I gotta get back into my position..."  
  
"Don't whine to us worm, take it up with Commander Adder."  
  
I guess the mere thought of him having to go up and face Mr. Pillsbury Doughboy himself was more than enough to make his stomach wrench in agony. The two aliens shoved him to the side as he began to breathe rapidly. He stood there for about five seconds, and then ran off to the bathroom to go puke his guts out. There was a part of me that got angry at the guy. Looking at the alien soldiers like freaks... Acting the way he did toward them. Then I shook my head and realized what I was saying. They were freaks though... why did that piss me off so much?  
  
I had to get a hold of myself. Lash's little treatment was beginning to resurface. I didn't know why. I had gone months, probably a year in Orange Star with no problems. Maybe it was seeing all these alien troops again. Or simply being so close to Black Hole forces. I refused to think about it anymore and almost missed a call that was coming in.  
  
"Hey, Wolf. You there?" It was Groling. "You find the walkway yet?"  
  
I paused remembering how it had been locked.  
  
"I just heard it was locked. To prevent me from moving around."  
  
"Damn, tough luck huh? What are you going to do now?"  
  
"Make another call." I answered with a low tone.  
  
Before I called up Sonja, I made sure I had a good spot to hide out. Just incase it was complicated. And knowing Sonja, I had a pretty good idea what I was in for. A locker room full of flight suits was good enough for me, since I figured there wasn't any copter type unit on the pad and therefore no pilots to use the suits.  
  
"You called?" Sonja answered in her usual tone.  
  
"Yeah, I have a problem. Adder has locked down the walkway connecting the heliport to the barracks. I have to get to the barracks if I want to save Andy."  
  
"Locked you say? Well, it's typical of Adder to try and narrow the battlefield. He likes traps you know. I'm pretty sure that anything you do will most likely result in running into him."  
  
"Sonja, are you here to help me? Or try and discourage me?"  
  
I could hear Sami open up her line and join in on the conversation.  
  
"Look Sonja, if you're going to keep doing this, I'll dismiss you right now. A soldier in these conditions have to keep their morale up. They lose at least the tiniest bit of hope, and it can be all over."  
  
Sonja took a long pause and muttered something to herself. Looking back on it, I'm pretty sure I made a bigger deal out of it than it should have been. But it was just that tone of voice. She almost sounded condescending at times. I guess that's what you have to deal with when you're a certified tactical genius.  
  
"Fine... I was just trying to warn your operative of the dangers involved in trying to get around the door." Sonja explained to Sami. "There is the technical way... Hacking. And if I read your file right. You don't have much expertise in computer sciences."  
  
"Yeah... I'm more of a run and gun type of guy. I usually leave the computer stuff to my unit, or Palmer to be more specific."  
  
"So we'll do it the other way. You'll have to climb down from the roof onto the walkway. I don't exactly know what kind of materials are in the helipad. But a rope or ladder should probably suffice."  
  
"... I think we can manage."  
  
"We, Wolf?" Sami asked confused.  
  
Internally, I cussed for leaving that little detail out for so long. I should have told them about Groling earlier. When I went to explain, I told them about our meeting in the underground, and his story about what went down on the roof of the heliport.  
  
"Hm... is that so? Well... I think you two should work together. It might be difficult, but you could be in two places at once." Sami decided after a time.  
  
Well, I didn't want to waste anymore time and called Groling up. I asked him if he'd seen any rope or ladder anywhere in the Heliport when he was running around. He sounded a bit confused until I explained to him what we were going to do.  
  
"That depends on how big the drop is. You're going to have to go check it out. I have a feeling a ladder isn't going to do the job. If it's rope... I have to think some more about that."  
  
There was something wrong with his voice... It sounded... hesitant.  
  
"What's wrong Groling?"  
  
"My leg is still busted. It's gonna take some more time before I can move. Look, just go check out the distance from the roof to the walkway. I'll catch up, and I'll bring what we need."  
  
His answer didn't sound very reasonable. But the last thing I wanted to do was piss off my only possible help for this mission. I moved to the stairwell and slowly opened the door to head upwards...  
  
-To be continued...  
  
--Next Chapter: Sidewinder  
  
------------------------------------  
  
The way he moved made you feel like you were going in slow motion. His fingers, his legs, his arms... They all seemed like they were ten times faster than your heartbeat. I blinked, and he was already on the other side of the helipad. I could hardly keep track of him, and the snow that was coming down made it even worse.  
  
"Don't just stand there Heckler. You should feel lucky... I've never devoted so much time to killing just one person."  
  
I raised my M4 and sprayed the area with gunfire. Hell, I might as well been throwing the bullets at him. Because his body snaked and bent and weaved so that I was wasting ammunition. Soon, I'd probably run out. How the hell was Adder so damn fast!?  
  
------------------------------------ 


	5. Chapter 5: Sidewinder

-Advance Wars 2  
  
--Death Array  
  
---Chapter 5: Sidewinder  
  
When I reached the roof, I could feel the cold winds coming in through the cracks in the frame of the door. I had been inside too long. This reintroduction to the cold temperature outside was going to suck... The knob hardly moved, then I realized it was probably frozen or something and I kicked it open. Of course, after all that, I didn't feel too intelligent upon seeing an elevator next to the stairs. I must have missed that...  
  
The area with the "H" in a circle was clear. But the rest of the roof contained some crates for reloading purposes. You know, fuel, ammo, or to drop rations for troops and so on. Lights flashed on each corner of the pad... and I realized how dark it had gotten. I guess the storm had strengthened while I was underground. Snow was coming down everywhere.  
  
Olaf's guys would have loved to hold the place down.  
  
If I looked really hard, I could see the ocean on the horizon to my left. To the right, was the barracks. I moved over to the edge of the roof and looked down to see the shadowy outline of the walkway. Shoot, that was a big drop. We'd definitely need some kind of rope. I guess the floors on the heliport were spaced out differently from what I was used to.  
  
Then my vision drifted away from the walkway to see a smoldering pile of scrap far below. The only reason why I saw it was because of some small fires that were on the verge of burning out. It was the Green Earth copters. I hoped they dropped into the ocean or something, just cause... well, I really wasn't looking forward to Groling seeing this. I think he was shaken up enough over the botched rescue mission.   
  
I don't know why I thought that, maybe it was the last time we talked.  
  
I was about to call him up, you know, tell him about what kind of material we'd need to get down to the walkway. But a click-clack of some distinct boot caught my attention. It was a slow click-clack, almost like a saunter. It didn't seem like the kind of noise you'd hear from one of those alien grunts or the human soldiers stationed on this base. No... this was someone different.  
  
I readied my rifle and pointed it in the direction of the noise. A couple of cargo containers were blocking my view. There was a metallic groan as the doors to the elevator slid shut and told me they had taken the lift. The wind picked up and my eyes began to sting as I was fully concentrated on who ever was approaching. My finger was well rested on the trigger, I could pull it at a moments notice.  
  
Then Adder appeared out from behind the containers. He was wearing some heavy black trench coat over his usual uniform. There was all kinds of pockets on it, and I had a feeling they were full of ammunition. When he looked toward me, I could see all those features that made my skin crawl. The eyes with the dark circles around them, the purple hair, that long face. And his skin... his skin was as white as the snow that fell around us.  
  
Ugh... and that smile, enough to make your stomach turn. I could barely stand it even when I was turned into one of those aliens. It was a wonder how he lived with himself day after day. Looking like that. It must come with being one of the most notorious COs ever to walk the earth.  
  
"Adder..." I muttered.  
  
"Well well... it seems Flak was right. Lash's little pet has returned yet again. You might as well join us Heckler... Since you can't seem to stay away."  
  
Adder still had that smile, I was beginning to wonder what it would take to wipe it off his face. Probably a good bullet between the eyes ought to do it. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of a response.  
  
"You hate me." Adder stated almost giddily. "You've heard about my exploits in Yellow Comet. I'm not surprised you know. My talents... are second to none!"  
  
"Shut up!" I spat out suddenly, I had a good friend from Yellow Comet.  
  
I don't know what it was... but just looking at him was sickening. Frankly, I thought I hated Flak and Lash more. But there was just something about him, it just oozed arrogance and indifference to other people's lives. You just couldn't help but hate him.  
  
"No... no... I see now... It's not hate you have... it's fear. Oh yes... I was mistaken before. You don't hate me. You fear me. You fear me like the four armies feared Sturm."  
  
"Yeah right! You're just some sick, albino freak who's in love with himself. The only person you could scare is a six year old!"  
  
"What did you say?" Adder lashed out, while pointing one of his skinny fingers at me  
  
His arm moved up and his finger shot out so fast, I thought I had blinked, or lost my concentration on him. But no... one moment, his hands were at his side, and then the next he was pointing at me. Well, I had pushed the right button. I should have known insulting his complexion was the quickest way to piss him off.  
  
"You're just sickened at your own miserable appearance." Adder began darkly. "You're so... disgusted with your own skin and your hair that when you look at me, the only way to save face, is to insult me. To somehow elevate your pathetic appearance higher than mine! You do it, to make yourself feel better."  
  
I tried to yell back but he was so quick with his tongue that he cut me off easily.  
  
"Heh heh heh! This is true perfection of appearance you see here! Sturm knew, he knew that the world was full of sick people. But I was the exception! I was the one who stood out, that I was... perfect!"  
  
Adder cracked his knuckles and titled his head back like a snob. I watched as he slowly drew a weapon from his trench coat. It looked pretty small from my position, and he spun it around on his hands over and over again before suddenly tightning his grip and readying it to fire. It was clear to me, that he was well acquainted with this weapon.  
  
"This is the greatest submachine gun in the world. The Steyr TMP. It can empty it's 30 round clip in just a couple of seconds. It will take half the time to kill you with it."  
  
I don't know why the hell he picked such a time to gloss over a gun. I guess it's been awhile since he's fired it off. COs really don't see much action you know, at least not directly. I've heard stories, a lot of great COs hate to sit back and watch. If they could, they'd probably do just as much fighting as the guys on the front line. I guess Adder was one of those guys, but not becuase he cared for his troops. Because he wanted to show off his skills, a braggart basically.  
  
"That's great. Will there be a quiz later?" I fired back, unimpressed. "Can I earn any bonus points?"  
  
"Heh heh heh." He cackled. "You can laugh all you want, but it won't change the fact that you're luck has run out, and your little mission ends here. Our discussion... is over!"  
  
I fired even before he raised his weapon to shoot, and somehow he still dodged it. He took off to take cover as I fired back in his general direction. When I went to reload, he sprung out from behind his position and fired back. Well, he certainly wasn't kidding about his gun's fire rate. It sounded like a couple of guys were firing at me, when the bullets made little plink sounds up against the crates and stuff.  
  
The way he moved made you feel like you were going in slow motion. His fingers, his legs, his arms... They all seemed like they were ten times faster than your heartbeat. I blinked, and he was already on the other side of the helipad. I could hardly keep track of him, and the snow that was coming down made it even worse.  
  
"Don't just stand there Heckler. You should feel lucky... I've never devoted so much time to killing just one person."  
  
I raised my M4 and sprayed the area with gunfire. Hell, I might as well been throwing the bullets at him. Because his body snaked and bent and weaved so that I was wasting ammunition. Soon, I'd probably run out. How the hell was Adder so damn fast!?  
  
"Heh heh heh!" He laughed cruelly, obviously enjoying my bewildered look due to his speed.  
  
When Adder opened fire, his gun made me duck and cover. He sprayed lead everywhere, and it took him no time at all to reload. When he ducked behind a large rusty crate, I thought that if I closed the distance between us, I could have an easier time nailing him. He was just so fast, I needed to eliminate the time it took for my bullets to reach him.  
  
The way he popped out from behind the crate caught me off guard, and by the time I aimed and emptied my clip, he was gone. This was completely nuts. There's no way he can move like that. It's not fair. He's some skinny assed freak with white skin. Then I tried to calm down and get my head in the right place. Sure he looked like a freak show, but he was still dangerous.  
  
He must have been using his CO Power, it was the only way. I spun around, and let the empty clip drop to the ground. I looked up to see that Adder had darted back toward the other side of the helipad, and was now heading right for me in a mad dash.  
  
I remember letting the empty clip drop to the ground. I was reaching for a new one while Adder was dashing right for me. When I found the new clip, he was now halfway across the heliport. My mind was racing, it was frustrating to move one step behind your head. If things could have been done by thought, I would have already been shooting right now.  
  
I slapped the new clip in, reached to cock it. And that's when Adder did a jumping kick and nailed me in the stomach with his pointed heel. Damn, it knocked the wind right out of me and I seriously thought he had speared me on his boot or something. We both went tumbling to the ground while my gun flew from my hands. I've never seen someone so nimble before, cause Adder jumped back up onto his feet without using his hands.  
  
"Soon as I get my gun, I'm gonna put holes in you." I growled reaching for my rifle.  
  
"Your words are like your skills Heckler. They are absolutely nothing. Heh heh heh!"  
  
Adder fired on my rifle, knocking it further and further away from me. It was getting closer to the edge, and I knew what the snake was trying to do. My last all out attempt to get it back involved me getting on my knees and then diving for it. But Adder was too fast, and kicked my rifle off the roof before I could grab it.  
  
"No! No!" I couldn't help but cry out.  
  
"Oh, it only hurts for a moment." He hissed while pointing his gun in my face.  
  
Then I remembered my pistol. I was still armed. And I whipped it out, pulling the trigger as fast as I could. He was so close that even though he narrowly avoided my shots, the muzzle fire was more than enough to burn sections of his coat. But when I went for a reload, he slammed his boot down on my arm and pinned me.  
  
Damn... That was it...Time to go hand-to-hand.  
  
I gave him a sweep kick and sent him tumbling onto his back. We both jumped up at the same time, and tried to blast me with his gun. But I grabbed his arm and forced him to shoot up into the air harmlessly. On full auto, it was empty in a flash, and he was forced to drop it in order to free up his other hand. We struggled for awhile, and then somehow got pushed away from each other.  
  
"You Orange Star are all the same. You don't know when to give up! Your CO is the exact same way!"  
  
In a blazing flash, he had whipped out a switchblade and held it out so it pointed directly toward me. Aw damn... I didn't have any sort of combat knife of my own, and I figured trying to disarm him would get my hand sliced up.  
  
"Oh hell!" I exclaimed,. and leapt back to avoid getting jabbed in the chest.  
  
Adder was a blur with that thing. He swung it left and right and up and down and everywhere. I could feel some parts where he had gotten close and slashed a section of my suit. I was so concentrated dodging his knife that I didn't realize I was running out of room to jump back. The metal grating signaled the end of the roof and I soon fell backwards on it's slant.  
  
I thought that Adder was just going to keep swinging. But instead he paused and flipped the knife so he was holding it like a dagger. Man, he looked pissed. I bet he was angry the fight went on as long as it did.  
  
"Hiiiiissssssssss... You've gotten too many benefits from Lash's experimentation." Adder seemed to realize. "You're better off than before her operation. But no matter, I'll clean up her mistakes like I always do."  
  
I held my hands up defensively as he brought his knife up. But the sound of a door getting kicked in made us both turn to see Groling burst onto the scene. He rushed out from the stairwell with his gun ready. He was fully alert and ready to kick some ass.  
  
"Wolf! Take cover!" He cried out.  
  
Well, with that, I rolled away from Adder as he opened fire. He nailed that snake in the arm and caused him to lose hold of his knife. It sailed over the edge as Adder jumped back to avoid getting hit by any other bullets. When Groling ran out, he looked to get a better look of his attacker and made a really pitiful face.  
  
"Green Earth? That's impossible! We took our your entire unit!" Then he turned to me making a disgusted face. "You're lucky Heckler... that's all. If we were to continue this fight, you'd be finished."  
  
Groling was reloading as Adder began to make a break for the elevator. Groling had just cocked his gun when Adder darted into the lift and got away. I sat up and we both just paused as if to let ourselves clam down from the whole ordeal.  
  
"Hey, Wolf. You ok?" He asked after a time.  
  
I stood up and looked over my body to make sure I hadn't gotten knifed and didn't feel it in all that panic. Luckily, I was just fine.  
  
"Yeah, I'm good. The only real problem is that Adder disposed of my assault rifle."  
  
Groling paused and reached to get something that was strapped to his back. I was surprised to be handed an AK, but took it gladly. The best part was... it was silenced.  
  
"Where'd you get this?" I asked, looking it over.  
  
"Some dude was puking his guts out in the bathroom when I went to clean some blood off my boots. I didn't want to leave a trail. But when I went in, I saw it leaning up against the stall and snagged it."  
  
He paused and began to fish around his pockets. I wasn't really paying attention, but he took something out and tried to give it to me.  
  
"I don't need a cigarette."  
  
"It's not a cigarette man. It's a keycard. Eagle managed to scrounge up some cards that were involved in Jess's exercise. Technically, I could walk into any area I wanted, if it wasn't swarming with Black Hole soldiers. I think you'll get better use out of it, I don't plan on being a hero or anything."  
  
Man, this was really cool. Now I didn't have to worry about getting stuck at some door that wouldn't open up. I flipped it over and read the little number printed on it. Level 5, it said. When I looked back up toward Groling, he was taking out some rope.  
  
"Hey... How'd you know..."  
  
"I knew man." He interrupted me, then his voice got quiet. "I just hadn't got over the bloodbath downstairs. Shook me up a bit. But I'm fine now. I swear."  
  
He moved about securing the rope to one of the heavier crates and throwing the rope over the side. I decided not to press the issue anymore, the last thing I needed was my partner here to start breaking down into tears.  
  
"Ladies first." He joked.  
  
"Go to hell." I laughed back.  
  
We slid down the rope past some windows. When we hit the walkway, I realized how far the barracks were from us. We still had some walking to do, I had thought that the walkway connected right to the building. I turned to see Groling looking over the side of the walkway at the downed Green Earth copter.  
  
"Don't worry guys... I'll get them back for this." He whispered to himself.  
  
I didn't say a word as we began to move across the walkway, it'd be quite awhile before arriving at the barracks.  
  
"Hey Groling, how far do we have to go?"  
  
"Not much further. Just across this walkway and through a courtyard and the side entrance will be right there."  
  
"This courtyard... it's surrounded by a fence right?" I asked.  
  
He looked over at me strangely.  
  
"No, it's more like a stone wall. Why do you ask?"  
  
"No reason."  
  
Groling shrugged and turned to look ahead. I really didn't feel like telling him my fears about running into gung-ho Flak again. I hoped that wall was tough enough to prevent a Neotank from crashing through. I'm sure Adder is letting the whole base know about us after Groling saved my ass back there. Heh, I couldn't help but smile thinking about Groling hitting super fast Adder in the arm. It would have been better if it was his face.  
  
The walkway led directly to the door to the courtyard, like Groling had said. It was some old metal gated fence, and we pushed it open to enter. There was some trees and bushes, but they were all covered by a layer of snow. What'd I give to be under Olaf's command right now. I was about to check in with Sami, tell her about the situation, except a grenade landed right at our feet. We both saw it, but Groling acted faster than I did.  
  
"Watch out!" He yelled while pushing me out of the way.  
  
It exploded and sent him flying into the wall, knocking him out cold. I leapt up to my feet and pulled out my new AK, pointing it in all directions. Damn, Groling saved me again. I starting to think maybe he should be on this mission instead of me.  
  
"Heh heh Heckler!" I heard a familiar voice yell out. "Always getting others into trouble."  
  
"Winchester?" I realized. "Where the hell are you?"  
  
He stepped out from behind a tree with a big grin.  
  
"Time for round two, Wolf! Hah hah hah!"  
  
-To be continued...  
  
--Next Chapter: Grenades and Blades  
  
-----------------------------------------------  
  
Thump. Thump. Thump. The ground shook each time Winchester was able to fire off one of his grenades. Good for me that this time I was armed a whole lot better. Bad for me that Groling was unconscious, and I had to cover him against explosives. My only chance was that I could make Winchester angry enough to only concentrate on me. I was never really good at talking smack.  
  
"Hey! How's your leg feeling?" I asked.  
  
"Go to hell!" He yelled back while blowing a shrub next to me into oblivion.  
  
Dirt and snow rained down around me. Reminded me of Flak's Neotank rounds, except Winchester's grenades were a whole lot tamer. I took a deep breath and readied my gun. I heard a twig snap to my right and jumped out to fire. Oh hell...  
  
----------------------------------------------- 


	6. Chapter 6: Grenades and Blades

-Advance Wars 2  
  
--Death Array  
  
---Chapter 6: Grenades and Blades  
  
Winchester held his grenade launcher, ready to blow me away. I could tell. He was still bitter about our last fight ending in a stalemate. Knowing him, among Black Hole's ranks. He'd probably been taught that it's either victory or nothing. He took a couple of steps forward and made a quick glance to Groling.  
  
"You couldn't even save the guy next to you." Winchester laughed.  
  
"He's tough. He'll wake up. But not in time to see me take you out."  
  
"Oh ho ho! We're so full of confidence. How might I ask? After Adder cleaned your clock!"  
  
I raised an eyebrow. How'd he know about that?  
  
"Word travels fast with Adder. Or haven't you noticed?"  
  
"Yeah, I kinda figured out that speed is his forte." I growled.  
  
Something was going on, or we would have been slugging it out already.  
  
"Since you're so forgetful, perhaps you had forgotten mine. You see, I control every aspect of the weather, by my will alone. I know when it will snow, rain, or when the sun scorches the earth with a heat wave."  
  
"Maybe you didn't notice." I said, cutting him off. "But I don't give a damn about you."  
  
He snapped his fingers and he flashed for a bit. Oh hell, a CO Power, we're outside too. This was going to be trouble. Very slowly, he took a hand off of his grenade launcher and held it out.  
  
"What do you think Wolf? I think there's going to be some rain today!"  
  
Then I felt a plop on my shoulder, and it was so unexpected that I opened fire and started the fight. A second later, it was pouring down rain, making everything slippery and wet. There was an explosion and let me know that his grenade launcher worked perfectly in the wet weather. Damn, that rain was cold too! I tried to move behind a tree... but he promptly blew it up before I could take cover.  
  
"No no no! There's no hiding from me! We finish this!"  
  
"Fine with me!" I yelled before firing off a couple of rounds in his direction.  
  
He answered my attack with another grenade and I dove to avoid the explosion. My AK slipped from my hands as I went tumbling across the ground. Next thing I knew, I had lost track of it. I quickly looked up to see that I couldn't spot him, and decided to take the chance to look for my gun. I wasn't going to lose two rifles in one day.  
  
"Ah ha! There you are!" He cried out.  
  
Winchester popped out to aim his weapon as I found mine. I leapt to grab it in a roll as he blasted away more areas of the courtyard with his launcher. Finally, I managed to get behind a tree before he could spot me. I was relieved, because I had to clean some mud out of the slide, so it wouldn't jam the next time I fired my gun off.  
  
"You keep hiding from me! And I'll blow your friend into pieces!" Winchester vowed.  
  
Thump. Thump. Thump. The ground shook each time Winchester was able to fire off one of his grenades. Good for me that this time I was armed a whole lot better. Bad for me that Groling was unconscious, and I had to cover him against explosives. My only chance was that I could make Winchester angry enough to only concentrate on me. I was never really good at talking smack.  
  
"Hey! How's your leg feeling?" I asked.  
  
"Go to hell!" He yelled back while blowing a shrub next to me into oblivion.  
  
Dirt and snow rained down around me. Reminded me of Flak's Neotank rounds, except Winchester's grenades were a whole lot tamer. I took a deep breath and readied my gun. I heard a twig snap to my right and jumped out to fire. Oh hell...  
  
He was pointing his weapon in my exact direction, and there was little I could do to avoid the attack. I could see that smile on his face, he was ready to do away with me.  
  
But when he pulled the trigger, nothing came out. He was out of grenade rounds. I've never seen an expression change so fast from ecstatic to utterly crushed.  
  
"No!" He moaned while attempting to reload.  
  
I shot as fast as I could and nailed him in the chest. It appeared that my AK was much more effective at penetrating his suit than my pistol. He clutched his midsection and spun around to get nailed in the back. I didn't even realize when I ran out of ammo and heard clicking. I scrambled to reload... only to find out that Winchester was through with fighting.  
  
The rain stopped and the snow slowly returned. In a couple of minutes, all the water in the courtyard would be iced over and turned into a skating rink. I found Winchester slumped up against a tree, taking huge breaths of air and keeping a weak grip on his grenade launcher.  
  
"How did... a little do-gooder like yourself beat me? I don't understand... I'm... on the right side..."  
  
"If you call guys who ransom entire countries for money the right side, then you must have a pretty messed up view of heroes."  
  
"At least this side watched out for me... Unlike... Green Earth... and Blue Moon."  
  
Hm... I wondered what he was talking about, and kneeled down so I could hear him. He seemed to know I was clueless and gave a wicked laugh.  
  
"Stupid Heckler... During the Cosmo Land war... Olaf let Orange Star walk all over us... When you were... marching through our capital. Olaf was busy brownnosing Sturm... while we... got pounded!"  
  
"So that explains how you got your snow background." I realized. "Did you get your rain experience from Drake?"  
  
"Yeah... yeah..." He wasn't impressed by my understanding. "I soon left Olaf and his crummy country. I thought... surely... Green Earth, would be a better place to live. But it was the same... old... story!"  
  
He broke out into a bad fit of coughing and dropped his launcher to the ground.  
  
"You see... When I moved to Macro Land Area, Hawke showed up... and Green Earth let Black Hole... have their way with my family, my friends... my entire life! After I had just built it back up! Those cowards! Eagle and Drake simply sat back and watched as Black Hole wiped out everything they came across!"  
  
"I don't get it. If you're so angry. Why are you working alongside the same group that did all that damage?"  
  
"Why would I fight for... cowards... and suck-ups... who can't even protect the country they serve! How can I? I agreed... to bring along the Blue Moon mercenaries... so we could take this base... and I could get my revenge! And... make... them... pay!"  
  
I heard footsteps, and Groling had moved up alongside me. He looked pretty angry, but simply kept quiet as Winchester spoke. At least I knew where the Blue Moon guys came from. Winchester must have made some calls, or simply knew soldiers with his same craving for revenge to come and help him.  
  
"I hope your happy... Heckler! Letting those... cowards... walk around free..."  
  
"We didn't ask to be attacked you know." Groling nearly shouted. "You can't just run in, take casualties, and expect everything to work out well. Eagle and Drake were trying to wait for the right time to launch a counter-attack."  
  
"Heh... You say what you want, worm. But you don't know jack...about me. Heh heh heh he... h heh... he...h..."  
  
And he died laughing. It wasn't a feel good laugh though. It was a sad laugh. A laugh like after you've gotten a big load off your shoulders. A strangely... relieved laugh. I never did get Winchester, and I figured I never would. I didn't know jack about his life. I looked back toward Groling.  
  
"You feeling ok?"  
  
"Yeah, I just got knocked out from the blast. I'll be fine."  
  
"Good, just sit tight. I gotta contact my CO."  
  
Groling nodded and moved over to a stump to sit down. I bet his head was still ringing from that impact against the wall.  
  
"Wolf! What's going on?" Sami greeted me. "It's been forever."  
  
"Yeah, sorry ma'am. I kept getting interrupted by Black Hole. More specifically, Adder and Winchester."  
  
"Adder huh? What's your situation now?"  
  
"We're right in front of the barracks. About to go in. Adder got away... and Winchester's been taken care of."  
  
"Hm... well, it's good to hear you're alright. Hawke just gave us some new news to chew on. He says that if there are any more full scale attempts to stop him or rescue hostages. He'll forget the deadline and fire the Death Ray."  
  
"I kinda figured that." I muttered.  
  
"Well, you need to get moving. We can't exactly act on behalf of the other countries."  
  
"Copy that, I'm moving out."  
  
I waved to Groling who stood up a little bit shakily, but got his bearings fast enough. We moved up to the door of the barracks and opened it up. Finally, if Flak wasn't rampaging around with his crummy Neotank, I would have made it here so much faster. The side entrance Groling had spoke of put us in some kind of garage, with Big Bertha parked in the middle of it all. Ooooh... what I would give for ten pounds of C4 explosives right then. I'd blow that whole tank apart in an instant.  
  
"Hey Groling, I know that you were only here for Jess... But this place is pretty big, I remember from my briefing before the mission. We could probably find Andy faster if we split up."  
  
"Yeah, I gotcha. Where should I head first?"  
  
"Hm... why don't you head up? I'll go down and check the basement. There isn't any kind of stairwell to head up, but there's an elevator in the middle of the base."  
  
"No problem. I'll let you know if I find anything, or see those alien weirdoes that are wearing the new suits."  
  
"Don't call them weirdoes." I spat back.  
  
I froze, and so did he. We just kind of stared at each other for a time. I sounded way to offended to turn it into some kind of joke. I didn't understand it really, it just kind of popped out. There wasn't much I could do to explain myself... and I really, really, didn't want to tell him about Lash's experimentations. Eventually, I just kind of shrugged and turned away.  
  
"You might hurt their feelings." I finished weakly.  
  
It made him smile... or he might have just forced a smile so we could get back to the task at hand. I was beginning to worry. This little problem might just advance to a point where I couldn't pull the trigger on the alien troops, or just couldn't fight them all together. Then I'd be dead for sure.  
  
"Uh... yeah.. so. Who wants to use the lift first?" Groling asked. "Cause I gotta go up, and you gotta go down..."  
  
I waved a hand and pointed toward a door in the corner of the garage.  
  
"The basement was built before the upper floors, so that door over there will take me down. You just watch yourself."  
  
"You too." He told me.  
  
Then we left, with me going down, and him going up. It's one of those moments where you wonder if splitting up is such a good idea. I figured that since I've been going down all this time that I might as well not stop now. When I opened up the door, I found someone had turned out all the lights, but I didn't want to switch to my pistol... My AK was so much better to use with the silencer and all. So I took a moment to take it off of my pistol and put it on my rifle.  
  
The stairs... I thought would go on forever. The steps were also slippery as water dropped down from pipes running overhead. When I reached the bottom, the basement of the barracks reminded me of an unfinished basement. You could see the raw concrete walls and the electrical wires and pipes sticking right out. I guess when they were building the place, they just wanted a basement and nothing else.  
  
I made my way through it slowly, there was no telling why they turned off the lights. I knew they were using this place, because of Lash's constructive needs and the fact that I haven't seen any of her strange equipment anywhere else on the base. And as far as I knew, there weren't any more places on this island to go. So this had to be it, and I'm sure she laced the place with traps.  
  
I guess being tied up in a room with her has some advantages... but not much. You can get to know her... but then you feel like you wish you never knew she existed.  
  
An electric squeal soon caught my attention and my nerves tensed up. A saw blade erupt from the wall and almost made me a head shorter as I ducked to avoid it. But I couldn't relax, two more saw blades erupted from small slits in the floor behind me and began to give chase. Oh man, someone was trying to cut me up! I ran for it, hoping that my panic wouldn't drive me into a spiked pit or whatnot.  
  
The blades sped up to keep on my heels and I continued to point my flashlight all over the place, trying to locate another source of a trap before it sprung. More blades shot from the wall, around my waist and head areas. I ducked and dove and rolled through most of them and kept running. Those two blades were still moving after me, intent on eliminating the use of my legs.  
  
I found a door at the end of the hallway and tried to kick it in. Except it didn't open up, and the blades were still moving after me. I pounded on it, and nearly forgot about the keycard that Groling handed me. I whipped it out and frantically ran it through the slot so that it would open up. I got through just in time, and I could hear the sound of metal on metal as the blades hit the door.  
  
Holy hell... that was close... Man, I leaned up against the wall next to the door and took a deep breath. Maybe I should have headed up instead of down...  
  
Once I was done stressing over my close shave... I finally noticed what was in the room I had just leapt into. It was full of lab equipment and computers. This must have been the base security, because there was a huge wall to my right that was full of monitors overlooking certain areas of the facility. I noticed the motor pool, the heliport, and the fuel depot for starters.  
  
"How do you like my new humble abode Heckler? Or should I say... Wolf?"  
  
I turned around and raised my gun in a flash. Some lady dressed in full uniform, black hole colors, standing at a computer console. She had the longest black hair I had ever seen, it must have fell down around her waist almost. She also wore a pair of riding boots, reminded me of Adder's, except without the funky purple designs. Her hands were on her hips, and she had confidence written all over her face.  
  
"Who are you?" I asked.  
  
"Why... I'm Lash's pupil. I am Cyanide. I've been learning all sorts of tricks from her since my recruitment into Black Hole. She's a genius you know. I've never seen such a gifted child before..."  
  
"Don't even go down that road lady. Lash is crazy. There's no arguing that. You could preach all you want about how smart she is. All her little doohickeys and death machines she cranks out, but when it comes down to it. She has a diminished sense of reality. It's nothing to her to throw away a couple thousands of lives in the name of fun."  
  
Cyanide crossed her arms and gave a laugh. What was so funny? Maybe she knew already and didn't care. I was about to find out though.  
  
"You should listen to yourself Wolf. You sound like you've spent the last three years by her side." She continued to laugh. "You can't get her out of your mind."  
  
No... I choked on that sentence. After I thought about what I had just said. It was horrible... I did sound like I had obsessed over her. But I didn't! You gotta believe me! It's just... after all that time getting stuck with needles with god knows what in each syringe... I had to justify why Lash was doing it. I had to have a reason why she was so twisted.  
  
"The worst part is... Lash has a perfect grip on reality. She knows when she kills. It's not that she isn't aware of her talents. It's that she's all too aware of her talents. She just doesn't care." Cyanide told me, as if reading my mind. "There's no explaining it, she just is what she is."  
  
I pulled the trigger on my rifle. I wanted it to stop. I didn't want to hear it, or talk about it, or even think about it. But my gun jammed. I didn't understand why though. My eyes bulged as I lowered my gun to take a look at the slide. That's when I felt something hit my shoulder. I looked like some sort of dart... like a... tranquilizer... Oh hell...  
  
I fell to my knees and looked up to see Cyanide with some modified gun... to fire tranqs.  
  
"Welcome back to your worst nightmare... Heckler." She sang to me as I blacked out.  
  
-To be continued...  
  
--Next Chapter: RC Demolition Automatons  
  
--------------------------------------------------------  
  
The little car was after me. I tried to run as fast as I could. But the funky sedative that they had injected into me kicked into high gear. My eyes blurred, my legs hardly worked, and I was stumbling down the hallway like some wounded animal. My body began to sting as I went smack dab right into the wall as the hallway curved. I just realized I had no depth perception either.  
  
Whiiirrrrrrrr. The little electric hum of the motor to the remote control car was getting louder. I had to move, if that thing caught up to me... It was all over. I used to like remote control cars too. They were so much fun... but now they had explosives strapped to them. Enough to bury this whole hallway. I spun off the wall and ran. This was never going to work... and I froze. I think it just bumped my foot...  
  
-------------------------------------------------------- 


	7. Chapter 7: RC Demolition Automatons

-Advance Wars 2  
  
--Death Array  
  
---Chapter 7: RC Demolition Automatons  
  
I woke up in a really clean cell with a pair of cots. Everything was hazy, then I remembered what had happened. Oh god... I had been caught and all my stuff was gone. I tried to stand up as fast as I could, as if to defend myself from some attack that I felt was imminent. I think it was my delayed reaction to getting hit by Cyanide's tranquilizer rounds.  
  
"Oh damn..." I moaned, feeling my head.  
  
"Tee hee hee..." A familiar laugh echoed out.  
  
Lash. Oh hell no... please... not her... not now! My mind spun as I looked around the room trying to find out it's origin and was relieved to find it was an intercom with a camera attached to it. I stared up at it, really, really disoriented.  
  
"My little pet..." It was definitely Lash's voice. "What a great present Cyanide has brought me!"  
  
"Stay away from me!" I moaned, and moved to a corner.  
  
I felt like crap. I really did. I don't know what she shot me with, but it must have been some funky chemical concoction. You see, I had training centered around dealing with getting hit by sedatives. You know, like trying to resist capture. But that stuff was something else. It wasn't your normal knockout rounds, it could only be made by Lash... or now Cyanide for that matter, since she was passing her sick mind on to someone else.  
  
It was then I realized that two of the walls were glass and I thought about breaking them open and I wanted to flip up a cot to bash them in. But the cots, both of them, were bolted to the floor. It would take me fifty years to pry them off of the ground.  
  
"No no, no escaping this time Heckler! Even if you did get the cots out of the ground, the glass you see is double pane bullet proof glass. You couldn't break it with a shotgun!"  
  
That voice... no... all kinds of memories came back. Stuff I didn't even want to think about it.  
  
"Lash! Let me out!" I moaned.  
  
"Tee hee hee. Cyanide, you need to pack your knockout rounds with more stuff next time... Heckler is still feeling frisky."  
  
"I'm terribly sorry mistress." It was Cyanide's voice now. "But I didn't want to kill him. After all... he's your experiment."  
  
There was a long and an eerie pause as my eyes adjusted to the bright lights they had hanging from the ceiling. When I looked out through the glass, I could see a lab... But it wasn't the lab I had found downstairs in the barracks. I was somewhere else... in a large open labratory, with a control room seperate from the rest of the lab. In that control room, I could see Lash and Cyanide looking at me. Both of them looked as if they had found a lost puppy or something.  
  
"No," Lash said after a time. "He's not my experiment anymore. He's my toy!"  
  
"Oh god..." I moaned.  
  
Frantically, I began to pound on the glass. Again and again and again.  
  
"Let me the hell out! Now!"  
  
I probably could have pounded the glass until my fists started to bleed, but a third figure entered the room. It was Adder. He was still wearing his big overcoat, except I could see when he turned to his right, that his arm was in a sling. The same arm that Groling had shot when he saved me on the heliport. He was really worked up about something...  
  
"Lash! What are you doing!?" Adder demanded, his voice coming in over the intercom. "Why haven't you executed him yet?"  
  
"Hm? What ever do you mean?" She responded with a smile.  
  
"That worm killed Winchester! He shouldn't even be in one piece at this rate! He should be-"  
  
"Angry as ever, eh Adder?" Cyanide interrupted him. "I caught him, so he's under my jurisdiction. Shouldn't you be checking for that Green Earth soldier anyway? I hear he's still running around, and you can't count on Flak to take care of that."  
  
"Groling..." I muttered. "Thank god they haven't found you yet..."  
  
"I know you had a certain admiration for Winchester. But I've handed the prisoner over to Mistress Lash at this point." She made a gesture to Lash who smiled with childish pride.  
  
"I swear." Adder growled. "If you don't kill him now, I'll go through both of you to do it myself!"  
  
"That's enough Adder, get back to your position." A cold voice soon ordered him.  
  
I watched as he was about to reach for his gun, but when he heard that voice, he stopped instantly. The owner of the voice... was Hawke. I could see his face... unmistakable as he entered the control room.  
  
Man, he had given his outfit a full overhaul for his new position as supreme commander. He lost his gloves and trench coat, and now looked like some sort of general with an officers uniform. There was this hat on his head... which took me awhile to place. But it was Sturm's cap. I could tell because there was some areas that were burned from when he shoved Black Storm down his old boss's throat.   
  
Hawke was downright ruthless, only he could go around wearing a reminder that he's bigger and better than who used to run the show for Black Hole. You can understand why Adder backed down as fast as he could, and soon left without another word.  
  
Hawke put a hand over the microphone that Lash and Cyanide were using to communicate with me and whispered something to them. He was looking away from me, so reading lips was out. After awhile, all three of them stepped out of the control room and began to approach me.  
  
"Are you completely clear?" Hawke asked looking toward the two psychopaths who I guessed were about to dispose of me.  
  
"Yes sir." Lash groaned. "But he's mine! I want to-"  
  
Hawke cut her off with a wave of his hand and a voice filled with finality.   
  
"Absolutely not. We're running on a tight schedule here. There's no time for any of your antics Lash. Now move... that's an order."  
  
There was no arguing with Hawke. It was one of those relationships where his word was final, and anyone protesting was going to regret it. Lash knew this, and she shut up immediately. They waited for him to leave before turning back toward me. At the same time, I knew that they operated on a "won't know, won't hurt" mind set.  
  
"Alright Heckler, I gotta go. But before I leave, I want to show you something." Lash began, picking up a radio controller of some kind. "I want to show you this!"  
  
I watched as some remote control car rolled out from behind a desk full of computers and moved toward Lash and Cyanide. It looked harmless enough, until I noticed a light flashing on the back of it. It was packed full of C4! Probably enough to blow a tank in half. She had turned a remote control car into a moving bomb. I wasn't really surprised, it was so her style anyway.   
  
Once, I heard a story where she took a whole regiment of Black Hole soldiers and made them play bomb tag. One of her sick little games when Sturm thought he was winning. She wiped out all but two after the game was done. It was called on account of Blue Moon attacking. Stories like that only convinced me further she was too deep in her own little world to save with any sort of reform or therapy.  
  
"Check this out! It's my Remote Control Demolition Automaton (RCDA)!" She announced.  
  
Cyanide nodded with a smile, as if admiring Lash's work. I just looked at them both like they were pink elephants.  
  
"It's an RC car with a bomb strapped to it." I told her.  
  
"You can't call things what they are! That's like me calling you a nosy brat trying to ruin our Death Ray firing! Instead, I just call you an 'intruder'! And I call my device here a 'RC Demolition Automaton'! Tee hee hee!"  
  
She handed the controller off to Cyanide who took it with great care and looked toward me maliciously. They stood there like that for a couple of seconds, and then Lash took off. What the hell were they going to do to me...  
  
"Hawke told us to do no interrogation and move to execution. We don't need to know what you know. Because you don't know anything." Cyanide explained. "I'm just to kill you the way Mistress Lash ordered. With her clever device."  
  
"You worship her so much that you don't even see how stupid it all is. I'd rather be shot!"  
  
"Exactly Wolf. That's why we're going to run you to death, and then blow you up." She laughed. "The last thing we'll do to you... is give you an honorable death. It's going to be as humiliating as possible."  
  
She snapped her fingers, and two alien grunts approached her. They stood at attention and saluted.  
  
"Take our prisoner to the second basement and make him run." She told them flatly. "We're going to have such fun, you and I. Lash's toy."  
  
The two grunts opened up the door to my cell and held their gun arms out. I should have fought, but strangely I was scared of dying right there. They clocked me pretty good and then began to haul me off god knows where. A call began to come in and I had to answer it. I had to talk to someone other than my executioners. Just someone to get my mind off of what was going on right then.  
  
"Wolf? Where have you been! You've been silent way too long!"  
  
"Sorry ma'am... I've... blown the mission... They uh... they got me." I choked out.  
  
I could hear her gasp, and Sonja was next on the line.  
  
"What do you mean by that? You aren't... captured are you?"  
  
"I just said... they got me."  
  
I must have sounded beaten, cause Sami went into this whole new mode. It was kinda like when the mission was getting close, and she wanted us to break out that last ounce of energy to get the mission done. Or Victory March... Yeah, that's what it was called.  
  
"Get a hold of yourself. Look at your situation, you have to escape. That's an order! Not a suggestion!"  
  
"Uh... I feel kind of faint."  
  
At that point, I wasn't trying to weasel my way out of talking with my CO. I just really felt bad. They must have given me some crap while I was out to make me passive.  
  
"Don't worry Wolf. You've made it this far. I know you'll think of something." Sonja told me, obviously trying to keep my spirits up. "Giving up is the cowards way out. I don't think you want to be remembered as a coward."  
  
"I'm not from your country Sonja... I don't have that sense of honor your guys do." I told her. "I'm just a grunt with a gun who shoots things. No real place, no real identity. I just do what I'm told."  
  
"That's not true!" Sami yelled at me. "We sent you on this mission because you're capable, because you get the job done. Because you're a soldier in Orange Star! You have to understand what that means."  
  
"I can't... stay awake... Hopefully... I'll uh... contact you later..."  
  
Then I blacked again out with those words in mind. I think they must have still tried to talk to me, because I could remember all kinds of voices going on in the background. Suddenly I hit something hard, and opened my eyes to see that I had been dropped on the ground face first, and the two alien soldiers were standing over me with their guns up against my forehead.  
  
"Get up worm!" One of them told me.  
  
"Start walking." The other demanded.  
  
Damn, I had to fight to get on my legs. I mean I really felt flattened. Not quite drunk, but not quiet sober you know? That crap they had pumped into me was really messing with my mind. I could vaguely make out a hallway and some pipes along the ceiling, it had that unfinished basement look with the concrete walls n' stuff. And it was really cold. I think I was back in the basement of the barracks.  
  
The two aliens retreated through a door and I could hear it locking. I shouldn't have, but I couldn't help but look behind me and I could see a whole line of those RC Demolition Automatons... I can't believe I just called them that. They were all making squeals as their electric motors revved up and readied to take off. I have no idea why, but I just stood there as if debating if I should run or not.  
  
Then they started moving, and I instantly began to run. There was an intersection and I took a right, they followed. It was like a loud droning noise after me. Then there was another intersection and I took a left this time. I don't know when I stopped to rest and see if I was still being chased. It seemed I had escaped... until a lone RCDA turned the corner and headed toward me.  
  
The little car was after me. I tried to run as fast as I could. But the funky sedative that they had injected into me kicked into high gear. My eyes blurred, my legs hardly worked, and I was stumbling down the hallway like some wounded animal. My body began to sting as I went smack dab right into the wall as the hallway curved. I just realized I had no depth perception either.  
  
Whiiirrrrrrrr. The little electric hum of the motor to the remote control car was getting louder. I had to move, if that thing caught up to me... It was all over. I used to like remote control cars too. They were so much fun... but now they had explosives strapped to them. Enough to bury this whole hallway. I spun off the wall and ran. This was never going to work... and I froze. I think it just bumped my foot...  
  
Without a second thought, I turned and kicked it back down the hall. It must have had a delayed timer, cause it went off after bouncing a couple of times. The way I had come soon collapsed and a huge amount of debris rained down. I didn't watch to much of it before running again.  
  
"Oh hell!" I yelled while stumbling upon a stairwell and went down it head first.  
  
Man, I hit the bottom, and I really hit the bottom. I fought back unconsciousness as I heard that stupid electric whine again. The other cars had caught up! I stood up and quickly opened up a channel to Sonja.  
  
"Sonja!" I called out while stumbling down another pathway. "I... need to get the hell out of here!"  
  
"Where are you!?" She asked quickly.  
  
"They said second basement... but I stumbled down some steps... I think I might be on the third..."  
  
I was running out of breath, I had to rest. But I couldn't. Those things probably wouldn't delay like the last one now. Cyanide is playing with me after all. I'm sure that close call before was just to get me moving. Hell, it worked though. I could just imagine, a soldier running down a hallway with an RC car after him. He's screaming for his life, and it's only an RC car. Well, that was me.  
  
"Wolf! Look above you, do you see any pipes?"  
  
"Of course I do! There's lots of them!" I moaned.  
  
"Follow the red one!"  
  
"Oh thank you." I responded sarcastically. "The 'red' one. That's so helpful."  
  
"Don't worry Wolf, I know that's the sedatives talking. I'm still going to stay with you."  
  
Somehow I fought my drowsiness to see a multitude of multicolored pipes. I picked what I thought was red, and ran with it. It might have been purple for all I knew, I was just that out of it.  
  
"Red red red red red." I sang to myself trying to remember what pipe to follow.  
  
I ran out into an open area with a ladder leading upwards. Holy fuggin' hell... I had to climb a ladder? In this state? That's like trying to disarm a nuclear weapon without passing grade school. Where do you even start?  
  
"I can't... I'm too... out of it..." I gasped.  
  
"Heckler!" Sami broke calling me my code name. "Grab the first wrung and climb! Do it! Or I swear, you'll do so many pushups, your arms will fall off!"  
  
"First wrung..." I muttered half dazed.  
  
I was a parrot at that point. I had to repeat everything I was told, just to get it through my thick skull and all the crap they pumped me full of. Maybe I was half way up... maybe I was two feet up. I don't completely remember. But I could hear a loud series of bangs below me as the RCDA's rammed the wall and blew up. The ladder began to shake, but somehow I hung on and kept climbing until reaching a ledge and collapsed at the top.  
  
"I........... made it." I barely said.  
  
"Sonja! Where is he?" I remember Sami asking.  
  
"He's in good hands. Just stay calm."  
  
I could see a shadow approach and someone picked me up off the ground.  
  
"Groling...." I asked in a barely audible tone.  
  
I don't think it was him, cause there wasn't any response afterward. I was just carried into a dark musty area. There were pipes jutting out everywhere as the figure dropped me up against the wall and let me drift off into sleep. Man, it was warm in that room. I don't know where it was... but all I remember was it being really warm. I must have sat there forever until the sedatives wore off.  
  
"Wolf? Are you alright?" I remember Sami asking me.  
  
I shook my head and looked around to see that I was in some sort of boiler room. That's why it was so warm.  
  
"Uh... I guess. I'm feeling a whole lot better.  
  
"And a lot less mouthier." Sonja laughed.  
  
"Was I... saying stuff I'll regret or something? Ma'am?"   
  
I really didn't remember at that point.  
  
"Nope, just being difficult. That's all." Sami explained, completely relieved that I was ok. "Good to see you back in order. You had us worried there for a minute."  
  
"Oh man, I don't even remember being brought here. I'm in some sort of boiler room..."  
  
It was at that point, some shadowy figure leapt from the ceiling and landed in front of me. I was really freaked out by it, it was so sudden, and I had just recovered from Cyanide's sedatives. My gasp must have alerted Sami cause she was soon asking me to respond, and tell her what the hell was going on.  
  
"Uh... I think I'm in trouble."  
  
The figure who had just appeared had a sword... and a long one at that.  
  
-To be continued...  
  
--Next Chapter: Mess Hall  
  
-----------------------------------------  
  
Andy was tied up pretty tightly in some folding chair, facing away from us, and all alone in the mess hall. Well... I wonder if it's a trap or not? Actually, I was wondering if this was Flak's idea. His tank wasn't in the garage, and the mess hall was a room that he could drive his tank into. But Flak probably wanted us to step out into the open before rushing the area with soldiers.  
  
"What do you think?" I asked Groling, looking to each side of the hall for alien grunts lying in wait.  
  
"I think we might as well get in there and get this over with. We know they're waiting for us."  
  
Good enough for me. I got my gun ready as he did his and we slowly entered the room. It seemed like we must have tripped every alarm in the base. Cause alien soldiers began to rush out onto the upper level and point their weapons down at us. A couple more rushed in through the door we had just used, and a quick count had them at ten or so. Groling and I raised our guns and looked around. Well, as he said, let's get this over with  
  
----------------------------------------- 


	8. Chapter 8: Mess Hall

-Advance Wars 2  
  
--Death Array  
  
---Chapter 8: Mess Hall  
  
The figure, once it had stepped into the light and closer to me, was a ninja. The easiest way I could describe it to you. It was female, judging by the ponytail and slender build, and she was dressed from head to toe in black ninja getup. There was probably better words, I just couldn't think of them at the time. Even her face as covered by a mask, you couldn't even see her eyes. You couldn't miss the pair of silenced guns in a belt around her waist... oh yeah, and that long sword which she slid into a scabbard on her back.  
  
"Uh... who are you?"  
  
She held up a finger to her lips for silence.  
  
"I am Shadow Two. I serve Lady Sonja." She whispered to me.  
  
I got the picture now. So that would explain a whole lot about why Sonja seemingly knew where I was going and what was going down. She had her own operative on the inside.  
  
"Shadow Two huh? You're Sonja's eyes and ears for this operation?"  
  
"Well, not just this operation. As you put it, her eyes and ears for anything that would concern the safety of Yellow Comet."  
  
"Yeah... well, I got it. If Orange Star wins, Yellow Comet wins huh? So, you're two. Exactly how many 'Shadows' are there?"  
  
"I'm not at liberty to answer that. I'm not even supposed to reveal myself to you, but it could not be helped. We are taught to stay in the shadows, never intervene, only watch and report."  
  
Well, at this rate. I figured she was either going to kill me, or tell me something useful. The kind of level Shadow Two was on made her so secretive, her own identity was denied. I bet she had no files, and no paper trail either. So even if you recognized her voice or happened to see her face, you couldn't dig anything up if you went looking. Or by the sounds of it... you wouldn't get very far either.  
  
"I will tell you two things. The first is the location of Andy. Who has been moved to the mess hall and tied up in plain sight. They are waiting for you."  
  
"They? Let me guess, Cyanide and Lash?"  
  
"Not exactly, it's Cyanide and Flak. Their forces are also equipped with the new suits. The alien troops are now heavily armed and armored. I would not suggest any sort of confrontation."  
  
"What's the second thing?" I asked slowly.  
  
Shadow Two made an innocent gesture to her pistols.  
  
"The second thing... that if you mention me or this encounter to your CO in any great detail... I doubt very much your safety after this mission."  
  
"Is that a threat?" I demanded, and stood up.  
  
"No..." Shadow Two answered slowly. "It is a warning. I also took the liberty of retrieving your things. I think you'll find them in order."  
  
I heard some clattering and looked to the ground to see a flash-bang with the pin pulled. I shut my eyes and covered my ears as I turned toward the wall. I could hear a dull thump waited a couple of seconds before opening my eyes again. Of course she was gone, and where she once stood was all my stuff. It was in good condition, considering Lash and Cyanide confiscated it.  
  
Man, I didn't know I was carrying around so much junk. It took me a good while to get it all back on. And after I was done, I still had to answer to my CO, who was making my transmitter ring like it was some 100th caller giveaway.  
  
"Wolf what's going on? What did you mean by you're in trouble?" Sami asked in a hurried tone.  
  
"I thought I saw an enemy ma'am. Nothing else to report."  
  
"Nothing else to report?" She obviously wasn't buying my story.  
  
"Like he said." Sonja interrupted in a sweet voice. "Nothing else to report."  
  
"Sonja..." Sami growled. "You better tell me what's going on."  
  
"Or you'll do what? I think we need to concentrate on the task at hand. Getting Andy out, and eliminating the Death Ray weapon Hawke is talking about."  
  
Sami made a frustrated sigh, knowing if she pushed, she wouldn't get an answer. Then she moved onto me, since I was under her command in all.  
  
"You better give me a full debriefing after this, you hear me?" Sami ordered.  
  
"Uh yeah... look, I think I remember Cyanide and Lash saying something about putting Andy in the mess hall. I'm gonna head there next, and see if I can reunite with Groling."  
  
Yeah, we continued to argue about what went on for a couple more minutes. But I managed to talk Sami down into letting me get back to work. I opened only door I saw to find myself in the hallway that led to Cyanide's lab. I couldn't help but remember my gun jamming when I tried to shoot. I checked it over, it was fine.   
  
Guess it was just bad luck... hell... she was like an evil Nell. If I had to take her out, it was going to be tough. I decided against visiting Cyanide's lab again and moved back up to the garage. To my horror, Big Bertha was gone. I wondered where else Flak could stash it... Hopefully he didn't plan on driving it into the barracks. Why would I worry about that? The mess hall is on the first floor on the perimeter. It's an easy shot if you... say... wanted to drive a Neotank into the place.  
  
The door leading deeper into the base soon flew open and I raised my gun, preparing to shoot... but Groling appeared.  
  
"Whoa Wolf! Whoa there! It's me! Groling!"  
  
"Groling? Thank god, you're still moving around."  
  
"What's wrong with you man? I heard all kinds of crazy stuff from the guards upstairs. They said they caught you."  
  
"Well uh... they uh... kinda did for awhile. I escaped."  
  
He paused to look me up and down.  
  
"You look like someone ran you over with a Medium Tank."  
  
"That bad huh?" I shook my head. "Look, I know where Andy is. They moved him to the mess hall. They're waiting for us."  
  
"An ambush eh? Well, I saw that new suit. They're loaded now you know. M60's, .44 Specials, grenades, they could probably take out a tank or two. Not to mention, their up to their necks in body armor."  
  
"Man... this sucks... If they weren't hard enough to kill already..."  
  
"Hey." Groling put a hand on my shoulder. "No worries. I picked up some grenades. We'll just have to use explosives."  
  
"What!?" I exclaimed. "But if they got Andy in there... hell, even shooting is probably a bad idea."  
  
"Then we'll just have to evac Andy. I'm just letting you know. Assault rifles just ain't gonna cut it anymore."  
  
Well, not much more to say about that. I took lead and went back through the door he had just used to enter the garage. I turned right, and knew exactly where I was going. If there was one part about this base that I did know, it was the barracks, since Andy stationed his troops here during the exercise. The hallway curved a bit and led to a pair of double doors. I used one of the little windows on the door and Groling used the other.  
  
They had a number those long fold up tables and a second level that looked down on the first. At first, I didn't see Andy, and began to wonder if Shadow Two's intelligence was as reliable as I thought it was. Then I spotted him, and looked to Groling to see if he had to. He gave me a quick nod without even looking at me and I checked the halls one last time before getting a better look.  
  
Andy was tied up pretty tightly in some folding chair, facing away from us, and all alone in the mess hall. Well... I wonder if it's a trap or not? Actually, I was wondering if this was Flak's idea. His tank wasn't in the garage, and the mess hall was a room that he could drive his tank into. But Flak probably wanted us to step out into the open before rushing the area with soldiers.  
  
"What do you think?" I asked Groling, looking to each side of the hall.  
  
"I think we might as well get in there and get this over with. We know they're waiting for us."  
  
Good enough for me. I got my gun ready as he did his and we slowly entered the room. It seemed like we must have tripped every alarm in the base. Cause alien soldiers began to rush out onto the upper level and point their weapons down at us. A couple more rushed in through the door we had just used, and a quick count had them at ten or so. Groling and I raised our guns and looked around. Well, as he said, let's get this over with  
  
The soldiers that did enter were wearing that new suit I had heard about for so long. It was nothing like their bulky space suits, but looked every bit as high tech. This suit hugged their body and appeared to cover them with body armor from head to toe, except when it came to their heads... They all wore some strange mask that closely resembled Sturm's mask without the tubes. To top it all off... some domed helmet made sure they were protected from head shots or grenade shrapnel.  
  
The guns they carried were serious stuff. As Groling had said. M60's and a .44's as reserve weapon. The belt that held their ammo seemed to come out of a shoulder on their suits... probably fed from a backpack they wore.  
  
"Jus' like you said. They walked right into it." A voice laughed from above.  
  
We looked up to see Cyanide and Flak appear on the upper level though a door. None of them were armed, so I figured they were going to let their troops do the dirty work. Kind of strange, usually Flak is a hands-on kind of guy. I guess Cyanide talked him out of it.  
  
"I told you Flak, the bait was too tempting." Cyanide explained. "They would come, even if we put a big neon sight out front detailing our every move."  
  
"Yeah, you guys sure aren't very subtle." Groling commented.  
  
"With adversaries like you... we don't have to be." She fired back without missing a beat.  
  
"Interesting choice for weaponry." I couldn't help but speak up. "What happened to assault rifles?"  
  
"Not tough enough!" Flak answered. "When we went to arm our guys with the Neosuits. All you Orange Star worms had were those crummy M4s! So I got a great idea. We took all the recons we didn't crush from your exercise and stripped them of their mounted guns."   
  
He began to drive his fist into his palm with a cruel smile as if visualizing our pulverized bodies.  
  
"Now that's the kind of stuff I'm talking about!"  
  
"You should see what they can do with the rocket launcher. It's something else, I guarantee you." Cyanide laughed.  
  
"Oh well, it's always fun making you worms feel stupid. But Hawke says he's had enough of you running around. Crush em' boys!" Flak ordered before they both retreated back the way they came.  
  
Alright, go time. My first move, was toward Andy, before they blew his brains out trying to get to us. Groling put down some cover fire, but he couldn't do it for long as a hail of bullets came from nearly every direction. The only safe place in that room, was not being in the room at all. I leapt and grabbed Andy and spun around to wave Groling over toward the counter where the food was served up.  
  
Hopefully that counter would provide us some cover, I really didn't know.  
  
Any alien soldier who lost sight of us on the upper level soon jumped down as if they had a parachute. They made it look that smooth even though their landing was enough to make the tiles crack. I took the long way around the counter as Groling leaped over, and I could hear the rapid impacts of the bullets slamming into the walls all around us.  
  
"Wow, they're pretty good with a weapon that size." Groling exclaimed.  
  
Why did he say that? He hadn't been hit or anything? Had he? He gave me a thumbs up as if understanding the confusing remark and I went about untying Andy. If you had a headache, you would not want to be in that room. Those alien guys had no problem about ammunition. The way they fired, you figured they had mounds to spare. Finally, I ripped off Andy's tape across his mouth.  
  
"Wow! Are you here to rescue me?" He exclaimed.  
  
"Yeah... I'm Wolf. Sent by Orange Star." I replied simply and went to assist Groling in holding back the scores of alien troops firing at us.  
  
I opened up on the nearest one and I swear it almost took that entire clip just to make him limp for cover. They had some tough stuff protecting them. So next time, I would aim for the head. Of course that mask was probably made of metal, so hell... I don't know how effective anything was gonna be against them. That's when Groling pulled out his grenades he had been talking about. Hell yeah, I forgot about those.  
  
"Let's see how they handle this." Groling smirked as he pulled the pin and rolled it across the floor.  
  
Good thing he didn't throw it, cause none of those alien guys in the Neosuits saw it. When the grenade went off, all of the soldiers on our level went flying, onto the tables, into the wall, even into the counter we were hiding behind. I saw it, we had a clear shot to the door. We HAD to get out of here.  
  
"Ok Andy," I began. "Stay low, and don't talk. Now let's go for it!"  
  
All three of us stood up and darted for the entrance. I could just feel the aliens we ran by trying to grab for our legs or something, and drag us to the floor so their buddies on the upper level could do us in. I was last in the group, to make sure Andy stayed on his feet. I just remember this wave of relief as we made it out into the hallway, and then the alarm began to blaze. It was some alien on the intercom blabbing about our close call.  
  
"Attention all troops stationed in the barracks! We have intruders on the first floor, heading out of the mess hall. All available units intercept and eliminate the enemy! Orders are shoot on sight. I repeat. If you value your lives, shoot on sight!"  
  
"Well, so much for keeping things low key." Groling smiled. "Where do we want to head next?"  
  
"I know!" Andy exclaimed. "Follow me!"  
  
"What? Andy! Get the hell back here!" I yelled.  
  
Some of the Neosuit soldiers burst out of the mess hall and began to rattle off bullets in our direction. Damn... those grenades didn't slow them down as much as I would have liked. We just barely made it around the corner as anything in their vision range was riddled full of holes. Oh yeah, no cover in the hallway. If they caught up to us, there would be no taking cover. Just getting shot up.  
  
"Garage!" Andy yelled.  
  
This kid was going to get us, and himself, killed at this rate! What the hell does he think he's doing anyway? Running off like this base is empty... He's got too much energy for his own good. But we really didn't have any kind of choice and followed him. When we caught up, he had punched some button to open up the door to the garage. I thought he was heading for the snowfield...  
  
But the garage door simply opened up to a tunnel of sorts and now I was confused. I guess the garage was further back in the base than I had thought.  
  
"Quick guys! Stand there!"  
  
Andy pointed to a spot on the floor... just a bit bigger than a tank and punched another button on the wall. The floor rattled and began to sink into the ground. It was a massive cargo elevator. Humph... Andy knew was he was doing after all... But that didn't stop me from chewing him out once he got onto the lift with us.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Running off like that!"  
  
"I figured we didn't have a whole lot of time to talk." Andy answered honestly. "We had to get out of there."  
  
"So? You can just run off like that, you might have run into an alien grunt who was ready to take your head off!"  
  
"Guys!" Groling interrupted. "I don't know about you, but it seems like we're fish in a barrel standing here."  
  
He pointed upwards to express how if any alien soldiers were to look down, we'd have no where to hide. All they'd have to do is shoot down and cut us up. Maybe Andy wasn't as clever as I thought he had been.  
  
"Don't worry." Andy assured us. "It'll close up any second now."  
  
As if right on cue, the hole above us where the lift had been began to shrink as a cover slid in place. Lights turned on, and I could see we were moving far below the base, into the underground... I hope he knows what he's doing taking us god knows where...  
  
-To be continued  
  
--Next Chapter: Orange Station  
  
---------------------------------------  
  
We soon stepped out of the tunnel, and I could immediately see a pair of train tracks going off in both directions to the left and right of me. Groling and Andy went a bit further than I did and actually stepped onto one of the tracks as if to tell my eyes that I was seeing right. Man, why the hell did Black Hole build a train station on an island anyway? There was no bridge connecting to their old Macro territory or Orange Star.  
  
Funny thing was, there actually was a train on one of the tracks. It was pretty long, about twenty cars or so and reminded me of the train Lash used to move her stuff between the battlegrounds of Orange Star and Blue Moon. My attention soon timed out on the train as something slammed into my leg and I remember howling in pain while looking down to see something had hit me... Dammit to hell! Snipers!  
  
--------------------------------------- 


	9. Chapter 9: Orange Station

-Advance Wars 2  
  
--Death Array  
  
---Chapter 9: Orange Station  
  
I was angry at the little sucker. I had always heard stuff about Andy and his seemingly off and on below average intelligence... And I believed it too, after seeing him run off like he was invincible or something. But he did get us away from all those Neosuit soldiers. Maybe he knew what he was doing, maybe he didn't, but I was just too frustrated to sort it all out.  
  
"Geez..." I sighed. "You know what? Just sit down, and shut up. I gotta tell Sami we barely saved your ass."  
  
Andy shook his head like he didn't know what he did wrong and turned toward Groling to talk to someone else. I turned toward the moving rock on one of the walls of the shaft and radioed Sami.  
  
"This is Wolf. We just rescued Andy."  
  
"That's great news! Where are you now? We're about to send the mini-sub back to the docks."  
  
"That might be a problem ma'am. You see... Andy put us on some lift and I don't know where we're going."  
  
"This is a cargo elevator!" Andy explained. "It takes us all the way to the bottom of the cliff to the train depot."  
  
"Train depot?" I wondered aloud.  
  
"Yes." Sonja cut in. "It's a classified area that Black Hole had been using to develop some kind of war train. Orange Star decided to take it over and continue the work. Only COs and key personnel were notified about it's existence."  
  
"Sonja!" Sami exclaimed frustrated. "Can't you stay out of other people's business just once?"  
  
She sighed and paused as if trying to calm herself down.  
  
"Yes yes... it's a top secret location." She admitted after a time. "Nell made it clear to me that you wouldn't be notified unless it was critical to mission success... I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark about it."  
  
"Oh yeah? What else is top secret in this place?"  
  
I don't know why, but at that point, I was kind of pissed off. They send me out here to save Andy and Jess and don't properly inform me about the all the bases locations. How am I supposed to locate a Death Ray weapon when I don't even know about all the places to hide it. I figured they thought I would find it on my own or work my way around it. I sure as hell didn't know about that cargo elevator.  
  
"There is a second site to the installation Wolf." Sonja began. "Past the train depot is another large part of the island. It's where Lash has her laboratory and where Hawke is orchestrating this whole ordeal."  
  
"Well, it's nice to know now." I groaned. "And another matter is getting Andy off this rock. There's no way I'm about ready to drag around two people on this mission. There's too many of us here as it is."  
  
Sami and Sonja eventually coughed up the fact that on the second part of the island was a small runway. Where they launched their jet to blow up Eagle's rescue team. Truthfully, I had totally forgotten about Hawke's fighter jet and where they would stash it. If it was a harrier, they could have put it on the helipad or something. But it was just a straight up fighter they had hotwired once they had taken control of the installation.  
  
Why was this all important? Well, cause there was copters and other planes Andy could use to escape the base. Good enough for me. All I knew is that I had no intention of dragging around Orange Star's youngest Commanding Officer when I don't even know if he's taking the situation seriously. We barely made it out of that mess hall as it is.  
  
"So, Wolf," Groling began. "What's going on with your superior?"  
  
At that point, I had just finished the call.  
  
"We're changing the evacuation strategy to the air option. Andy, you're gonna get off the island via copter. There's a cruiser that you can land it once you get it up in the air."  
  
"Whoa whoa." Groling exclaimed. "Not so fast man. Are you forgetting about Hawke's fighter? The moment Andy gets a foot off the ground, the radar will pick him up, and he'll be sitting on the bottom of the ocean for sure."  
  
"We could sabotage it." I stated confidently.  
  
Groling simply scoffed at that idea and rolled his eyes.  
  
"If you find it that is. Hawke knows that's the only fighter he's got. He's probably got more security on it than what they had on Andy."  
  
"Damn." I exclaimed. "I suppose you want me to shoot the fighter down once it's in the air? Maybe I'll just whip up some stinger missiles and pop him as he takes off."  
  
"What's wrong with you man?" Groling asked suddenly.  
  
I had just realized it when I was making my sarcastic comment about the stringer missiles. What was wrong with me? I was bickering with my ally on a critical mission in the middle of a battlefield. I liked Groling too. I turned away, totally confused by my recent behavior. My mind was searching for answers... so I could find the reason and snuff it out before it kicked in when he would need me the most.  
  
It couldn't have been Lash's treatment kicking back... could it?  
  
I'd be stupid to try and think it wasn't possible. But too many abnormal actions had been happening lately when I felt like I was on the wrong side, working with the wrong people, and taking orders from the wrong COs.  
  
"Groling... if I... keep this up. You'll shoot me won't you?" I asked him after a time.  
  
"Phhh. Shoot you? I'll blast you." He grinned, making a joke.  
  
The problem was, I was being dead serious. I had a horrible feeling like I was going to lose it at any moment. The cargo elevator soon stopped and I suddenly felt better, giving a weak smile and turning toward our only route. It was some kind of tunnel... reminded me of those tunnels that would cut through mountains. And I could feel the cold air rushing toward us. We walked down it for awhile until seeing a light in the distance.  
  
We soon stepped out of the tunnel, and I could immediately see a pair of train tracks going off in both directions to the left and right of me. Groling and Andy went a bit further than I did and actually stepped onto one of the tracks as if to tell my eyes that I was seeing right. Man, why the hell did Black Hole build a train station on an island anyway? There was no bridge connecting to their old Macro territory or Orange Star.  
  
Funny thing was, there actually was a train on one of the tracks. It was pretty long, about twenty cars or so and reminded me of the train Lash used to move her stuff between the battlegrounds of Orange Star and Blue Moon. My attention soon timed out on the train as something slammed into my leg and I remember grimacing in pain while looking down to see something had hit me... Dammit to hell! Snipers!  
  
"Groling! Andy! Run for it!" I remember crying out while falling to the ground.  
  
I desperately began to roll as bullets fell all around me. Plink, plop, plink, bing, zing. All memorable sound effects as I kicked up snow all around me in my roll. I remember, Andy and Groling seemed to get away just fine... then the snipers were just after me then. I guess I earned it since I was the one doing so much damage around the place. I soon found myself running out of room and got behind a rock.  
  
Damn, the way they were firing, they could have just shot the rock to pieces. It wasn't the work of professionals. I knew somehow. It was the firing of someone who was really emotional. It was almost automatic fire, I swear they were just shooting to ease some devil they had cooped up inside their body, as if it made them feel better to keep me under constant fire.  
  
I carefully curled up to see how my leg was doing. Luckily, the suit was more than enough to keep it from shattering my bones and simply just wounded it. A little first aid and I would be fine. But I didn't have any sniper rifle, and I don't think anything I had was going to be of use. After a time, they stopped shooting at me, and I figured they were reloading.  
  
I took a second, at the most, to look up over the rock and see where they could have been nesting. The train was too far away to provide any cover, and I'm sure if I ran for it, they'd pick me off before I'd be able to hide behind it. There was some sort of control tower on the train station, but none of the windows were open, so they couldn't be hiding there.  
  
Damn, I couldn't see them, but they had definitely taken up position somewhere on the train station. Something I did notice was that Groling and Andy had seemingly disappeared... At least they got away. If these guys were real snipers, they would have taken everyone down or made some bait to draw me out. But now they had nothing, and they were just shooting for the sake of shooting.  
  
It was then I realized that I hadn't heard them shooting at me for awhile. I couldn't help myself, and I peeked over the rock to take another look. To try and find them so I could return some sort of fire, however ineffective it might be. But there wasn't any more shooting, it seemed the snipers had moved on or something. Maybe they were waiting for me to get out into the open... Then there was a call.  
  
"Hey, Wolf. You alright? How's your leg?"  
  
"What? Groling? Where are you?"  
  
"Take a peek... just below the control tower."  
  
I did, and I could see him standing on the roof waving a sniper rifle in the air. I just kind of waved back wearily just wondering how the hell he got up there so fast.  
  
"What's going on? Did you take care of the snipers?"  
  
"Yeah, you're covered. The thing was, they were the Blue Moon guys. They were talking to themselves as they pounded your position with gunfire. They were awful hell bent on taking you out for taking down Winchester."  
  
Well... that would explain some things. They were just pissed cause I axed their boss. Guess Adder wasn't the only one around here who took a liking to the little green haired psycho. I thought about it for awhile, and then tried my leg. Seemed good enough, all they really did was nick me, I originally though they had hit me pretty good. But I guess all that emotion made their aim haphazard.  
  
"Don't worry Wolf, Andy's up here too. We're gonna cover you. You see, there's a nasty looking bridge going over a river to the other site of the base. You have to see this for yourself."  
  
"Andy? Work a sniper rifle? Is that even possible?"  
  
"Hey! Cut it out already!" I heard him demand.  
  
Oops... I forgot Groling was using a standard radio and not a high tech earpiece like I was. Andy heard me perfectly.  
  
"Just because I'm young doesn't mean you have to treat me like a child. I went through all the basic training... and the drills... and everything! Besides! Grit showed me some techniques on sniping one day during the second Black Hole War. So cut me some slack!"  
  
"Heh... He's got you there Wolf." Groling muttered.  
  
Well... since he was my superior... I guess that was a prompt chewing out. Groling couldn't help but laugh and tell me that I deserved it. I guess all that paranoid thinking about turning to the other side was just me being a flat out jerk to Andy. Before I ended the call, Groling told me about some access stairs inside the building. Now that I wasn't being shot at, I could see a pair of tracks making their way in-between two of the cars.  
  
The depot pretty much blocked any attempt to go around, I guess it was made that way to add length to the station platform, which I soon climbed up onto when I finished squeezing through a pair of train cars. Man... it was abandoned... But then again, why would you guard a station that probably leads nowhere anyway? We were on an island in the middle of nowhere...  
  
Inside was even emptier. All I could tell you that was worthwhile was the stacks of ammo crates, as if they were gonna load the train and move it out somewhere... Heh, probably ten feet to another area. I suppose it was smart on the account you wouldn't except a train depot on an island like this... but it was also kinda stupid cause you weren't gonna move it out anywhere.  
  
I moved up some stairs to the roof where Groling and Andy were waiting, handling their new sniper rifles. The bodies of the two guys who were shooting at me were neatly moved to the side... but you couldn't really hide the blood from where Groling shot them.  
  
"Take a look at this." Groling pointed.  
  
And I turned to see the bridge he was talking about. Damn, it was a freaking bottleneck. But it did lead right up to the large fence doors of the second site of the facility. If you could make it across there... well... it would be a whole lot better than standing on the bridge. Hm... kinda reminded me of a highway because of the light poles that lined the sides of the bridge.  
  
I easily expressed my feelings on the whole bridge idea. But a quick call to Sonja confirmed it was the only way across to the second site. Well whoop de do... Cyanide kind of had a point when she was saying that Black Hole doesn't have to do much to set traps.  
  
"What do you think?" Groling asked. "Me and Andy can cover you until you're in the clear."  
  
"You should try and locate some sort of copter or plane we could use to escape when you make it across. Once you find it, we'll come after you." Andy added. "Like you said, there's too many of us here already."  
  
Well, that's a plan. No sense in three guys trying to act stealthy when it only takes one to find something. From the satellite images, this part of the island didn't look very big. I'm going to assume it wouldn't be hard to find a copter or two and direct Andy and Groling to it. I really had to get them out of here before they got shot.  
  
"Uh sure... Maybe I'll even fly it over here if I can deal with Hawke's fighter."  
  
"Humph. You still on that kick? I'm telling you. You ain't gonna do a thing. Just complete whatever objective you're supposed to do so your guys can evac you."  
  
I wasn't going to give up my plan on sabotaging Hawke's fighter and Groling wasn't going to give up on telling me it wasn't worth it. We could have gone on forever about that idea, but as long as I was going over alone, I figured I could see what I was dealing with and then decide what to do. When I think about it, unless I'm in my unit, I get kinda nervous putting my safety in the hands of others.  
  
Maybe it's just my idea of Andy covering me is that gets to me.  
  
Oh well, if he was paying any attention at all to Grit's lesson on sniping... I should be in good hands. Then there's Groling, which makes me feel a bit better. I was running it all through my head as I got back on the ground floor and went out through a cargo door that was halfway open. There was some trucks and APCs parked in a small area before I reached the bridge, and I took one last look to see Groling and Andy take position before moving on.  
  
Hell... Where'd all this fog come from? We must have been pretty close to the sea or that bridge crossed it to have put the kind of white mist I had to deal with. It took me seconds to begin to worry about Groling and Andy. I knew the deeper I went, the less they could see me. I hoped they wouldn't shoot me by accident... But here goes nothing...  
  
It was quiet on the bridge, with the exception of the howling wind, and I had only the little yellow stripes to guide me. Every couple of paces, I would look over my shoulder to see the train depot slowly disappearing behind me. At least any sort of sharpshooters on the other end would have just as much trouble seeing me as I did them. I must have been halfway when I heard a metallic groan just up ahead.  
  
Oh hell... It sounded like a tank... Oh please, not out here... not on this bridge. Just not now...  
  
But I realized it was heading away from me and I soon began to move faster as if chasing it. I don't know why, but if it was moving away from me... maybe there was a good reason for it. The gates I had seen to the second site was wide open and I took a quick look behind me before entering. I hope whatever had just entered didn't move on four legs and had a cannon able to blow buildings in two...  
  
-To be continued...  
  
--Next Chapter: Closing Time  
  
---------------------------------  
  
The little control room was quiet. Quiet enough for me to hear the alien grunts patrolling up and down the stairs. Then I saw it, up on the largest screen in the room. Diagrams for a Death Ray of some sort. Except it wasn't as huge as Sturm's model, it was way smaller and the dish section seemed to be able to fold up or something.  
  
"Wonderful weapon isn't it?" I heard a voice ask.  
  
I just realized the voice came directly in front of me, and one of the rolling chairs spun around to reveal Hawke, sitting comfortably in it with his legs crossed, and Desert Eagle in his right hand.  
  
"It's the only glimpse of Death Array you'll ever get."  
  
---------------------------------  
  
Author's Note: Yeah, I'm gonna take this time to talk to RustyD about his Thunderbolt guys. I'm really bad about these little messages, so sorry for not getting back to you sooner. Anyway, yeah, I'm planning on using them just incase I cause some confusion with my little e-mails. I've got the chapters all written up, and it's coming pretty soon. So I'm sure if you stick around, you'll see what I've done with them. Hope you like it, it's coming up soon. 


	10. Chapter 10: Closing Time

-Advance Wars 2  
  
--Death Array  
  
---Chapter 10: Closing Time  
  
The fog died quickly when I entered the second site, and I realized I was on the tarmac of a runway. It was the small airport Sami was telling me about when we were on the cargo elevator. Time to find that fighter... or copter we could use to escape. I hoped Groling was simply overreacting about the whole deal with Hawke's fighter being guarded like a million dollars... But I'd see soon enough.  
  
There was only two hangars that I could see. One was partially open and the other was closed with a freaking parade of human soldiers standing around it. For a minute, I thought Groling wasn't kidding about the security. But I could hear some of them yelling, it was a meeting of sorts. Flak was there with two Neosuit soldiers for escorts. I had to see what this was all about and tried to get close.  
  
I got low and used various crates lining the grass as cover until I could hear them.  
  
"Alright worms! We're loading the train in one hour! Take my Neotank and anything else that's useful and pile it on!" Flak was bellowing. "No delays! I mean it!"  
  
The captain or new leader of the Blue Moon guys stepped forward.  
  
"We only take orders from Winchester." He explained coolly. "All he's told us to do is watch this base."  
  
"Well, if you ain't heard. Winchester is dead. Got killed by that intruder. I got jurisdiction over you now! Unless... you wanna argue about it or somethin'."  
  
That shut them up real quick as they all exchanged nervous glances. I didn't know how many men they had, but I guess the thought of taking on Flak or arguing with him was a death sentence to them. They all began to move out, but Flak continued to shout at them as they fanned out.  
  
"Remember! Keep that hangar locked! Hawke's gonna have a field day wit' us if anything happens to that fighter."  
  
Once that was done with, Flak and the two soldiers piled into an OS recon and drove back to the bridge. I guess that metallic groan was them opening the fence, I should have paid more attention before. I waited a couple of moments as the crowd died down to three or so guys circling the hangar. I had at least a couple of minutes at the door before they came back around.  
  
So the next time they passed, I sprinted up to the door and began to try to open it. Damn, it was keycard access and mine wasn't doing a thing. My time to work on the door was over in a flash and I quickly retreated to the boxes to hide. Groling was right, I wasn't going to be able to get to that fighter. So I figured I might as well move on and look in the hangar that was open. There was more sprinting as I ran over to the second hangar and tried to peek around the corner of the open door...  
  
Big Bertha sped out and scared me half to death. The human soldiers were moving it to the train depot. But still, I didn't get it. Load it on a train that doesn't go anywhere... This is not one of Black Hole's better ideas, unless they just wanted to keep it safe from me or anyone else who planned to destroy their stuff. A second look told me that the hangar was devoid of guards and there was a couple of copters... except they looked like rust buckets.  
  
They were Black Hole's copters Jess had told me about. The ones they used to get onto the island during the exercise. Man, they needed some serious maintenance. I mean a complete overhaul. They probably just barely got the alien troops onto this rock, and into the hangar. Geez... I hope Andy brought his tools, cause these junk heaps would be keeping him busy for awhile.  
  
"Groling. Are you there?" I whispered, radioing to him about the copters.  
  
"I'm here. We lost sight of you in the fog, but I'm assuming there wasn't anything to bother you."  
  
"Yeah, but listen, I think you'll want to get a better place to hide. Black Hole is moving some equipment to load onto the train. Namely Big Bertha. Flak is also heading your way too."  
  
"I saw them... and Andy just told me about the Neotank. Don't worry. I got a handle on the situation. How about those choppers or fighter?"  
  
I groaned at this and made him laugh.  
  
"You were right about the fighter, and I found plenty of copters. Except you might need to help Andy work on them. They don't look to reliable."  
  
Groling muttered something to Andy and then hurriedly ended our transmission.  
  
"I'm gonna have to contact you later."  
  
"What's going on?" I asked quickly.  
  
"Later about that ok Wolf?" And the call was over.  
  
I hoped they just needed to move position or something instead of getting into a gunfight. Oh well, Groling's capable. He'll handle it. With that out of the way, now I had a Death Ray to locate. The only other place I could move as a looming structure beyond the hangars. The control tower for the airport, oh boy. Where Lash was storing her laboratory and Hawke was running the show. I had moved to report to Sami... except a soldier approached and I decided to wait until I got to safer ground.  
  
The place I entered was the garages for the fire engines. But they had been replaced with two small Black Hole recons. Now how did they get those on the island? Oh well, no point in thinking about it and I slowly moved over to a doorway to get into the building that led to the control tower. Man, that place was damn near deserted. I saw more security in the motor pool, and all they were protecting was a tank and a recon.  
  
But they still had a couple patrols, and they were the Neosuit aliens, armed with Spas shotguns. I guess Flak had to side with shotguns after they ran out of M60s. I maneuvered my way through the various lobbies and abandoned offices until reaching the staircase that would wind it's way all the way to the top.   
  
Why was I going there?   
  
If the Death Ray control system was up there, I could possibly get it to overload or something with the help of Andy or Sonja. Or if that didn't work, at least maybe there would be someway I could find it. Up and up I went, until finding myself getting dizzy from the spiraling staircase. Damn, how high did this thing go anyway?  
  
Finally I reached the top and got my AK ready. I'm sure if this place was as important as I thought it was, they'd surely have more security inside. I kicked down the door and rushed in pointing my gun all over the place, looking for enemies. But to my surprise, I didn't find anyone to shoot. No... this was wrong, I could feel it. There was no one in here...  
  
The little control room was quiet. Quiet enough for me to hear the alien grunts patrolling up and down the stairs. Then I saw it, up on the largest screen in the room. Diagrams for a Death Ray of some sort. Except it wasn't as huge as Sturm's model, it was way smaller and the dish section seemed to be able to fold up or something.  
  
"Wonderful weapon isn't it?" I heard a voice ask.  
  
I just realized the voice came directly in front of me, and one of the rolling chairs spun around to reveal Hawke, sitting comfortably in it with his legs crossed, and Desert Eagle in his right hand.  
  
"It's the only glimpse of Death Array you'll ever get."  
  
We both went into a staring contest, as if trying to decide if we would shoot or not. Hawke slowly positioned his other hand so he was a perfect method to fire his gun off and not break his arms or anything. Maybe I should have shot him right there... but those eyes... so cold. Enough to make your blood freeze over. Frankly it was scary. I saw more emotion in Adder's eyes than I did Hawke's, and you know Adder is.  
  
"Where is it?" I demanded.  
  
"The Death Ray? Oh, you've passed over it I'm afraid. It's nowhere near this part of the base. In fact it wasn't even here to begin with, we just brought it here to finish it."  
  
"What? It wasn't even here?" I exclaimed.  
  
No... he was lying... If it wasn't here... why the whole take over? I thought this whole operation was about taking back a weapon they left here. What's going on here...  
  
"What do you mean? It's not here?" I asked angrily.  
  
"I'm sure you're wondering why we went through the whole ordeal with taking over the base? Well... the weapon was incomplete. We needed someone of Andy's caliber to help Lash make the finishing touches."  
  
What the hell... Andy? Helping them? Why didn't he say anything? God... that stupid kid... What was his problem?  
  
"It was also nice to buy us time, while Lash and Andy hurried up the activation of Death Array... Jess also made it easy to persuade the boy to help us. For a minute, I thought I might have to ask Adder to torture Andy into submission. But Jess worked just as well."  
  
"Dammit to hell! If it wasn't here... how'd you get it onto the island? There's no way..."  
  
"The train." Hawke interrupted. "You'd be surprised how many pipelines are still around. A large network of underground sections runs all over Wars World. It's original purpose was to move the stolen property to pay for Black Hole's war machine... But it works just as well with moving around a Death Ray."  
  
"How'd you do it Hawke? How'd you keep Andy silent? I had him right there... And he said nothing."  
  
When he stood up, I believe I flinched. I couldn't believe I was six feet away from this guy and not gutting him from head to toe. What was it that made him so terrifying? It was something that the others didn't have. Arrogance. He didn't have that overwhelming arrogance. He was just... Hawke... You couldn't pin any sort of lovable flaw on him to make yourself feel better. Or at least I couldn't.  
  
"My campaign in Green Earth was very successful in the last war, with the exception of the last few weeks. You'd be surprised how many POWs want to cut a deal when they face a firing squad. Drake and Eagle made more enemies than I can count by sitting back and letting Black Hole parade around their country for so long."  
  
"No way... Groling is one of yours?" I realized.  
  
"Groling is my best soldier. I knew I could trust him to guide you, and lead you in all the right directions so that your superiors still thought they could hold off on the bombing run."  
  
"But he shot Adder in the arm! I was about to die, and he saved me! If you wanted to get rid of me... why'd you stop him?" My mind was spinning, Groling couldn't be...  
  
"Yes yes... Adder wasn't supposed to confront you anyway. Think of Groling shooting Adder as disciplinary action for disobeying me." Hawke paused. "Besides, I never said I wanted to get rid of you. Don't you see Heckler? The longer you lived, the more time I bought myself."  
  
Dammit to hell! He was right you know. The minute I died, or had no possible chance of succeeding. Orange Star planned to bomb the whole damn island, borrowing a page from Eagle's strategy book. And if the Death Ray was in the train like Hawke said, it would have been game over for Black Hole. That train station was less than bomb proof, it was a sitting duck.  
  
"So Heckler... It's not because you were a part of Lash's experiments that you lived so long. As if you inherited some unfound super human strength. The reason why you've been kept alive this long. Is because I said so. To think of yourself as a one man army is absurd."  
  
I was so pissed off. It didn't matter who this guy was or who I would anger if I killed him. I was about ready to snap, but I was more shocked by the whole thing than angry. But the door behind me was kicked in, and Neosuit soldiers stormed the room. But I kept my gun trained on Hawke, mostly because I thought the Neosuit soldiers were going to blow me away despite what I did. But they didn't.  
  
"Put your gun down." Hawke ordered in a voice of finality I'd never heard before.  
  
Slowly I set in on the floor and the Neosuit soldiers picked it up before shoving me down the stairs. I wondered what they planned to do with me, but I didn't really have a choice. I knew where the Death Ray weapon was now... hopefully... there was something I could still do to stop it. Although it looked pretty bleak now... I was just angry enough to hang on.  
  
To make a long story short, they took me back to the train station, which was crawling with Black Hole guys. I could see Flak's Neotank, facing forward, on one of the large flatbed cars along with one of the transport copters. Adder and Flak were acting as tally men as their soldiers piled onto the train. Hawke just kinda paraded me around the platform while his troops gave me dirty looks.  
  
"Where's Andy?" I asked.  
  
"Oh, you'll be joining him shortly." He paused to turn to the guys escorting me. "Take him to the Computer Car, tie him down."  
  
But before he left me, he plucked the earpiece from my ear and threw it to the ground before crushing it with his boot. Why was he keeping me alive? Unless, maybe they still needed Andy for something. And I was the persuasion to replace Jess after I rescued her. I didn't really know, and didn't have the time to figure it out. I had just been caught again, except I had no contact with my CO now.  
  
They moved me to a car three down from the diesel engine. It was chock full of technical stuff and it monitored various things on Death Array... Black Hole's new up and running Death Ray weapon. One think I thought about while the Neosuit guys were guiding me through the car, was how did they get the power to run this thing? It took Sturm a good seven days before charging up enough juice to let loose with his model...  
  
I could only assume they had miniaturized the power source or shortened the wait time between blasts.  
  
Anyway, when I entered the car, they made me take a small set of steps upward, and I soon saw Andy.. tied up in his own chair. He looked pretty sad about something, I knew it was about Groling, how he couldn't tell me but knew all about it. Maybe Andy knew that I probably wouldn't believe him if he started shouting out stuff about how Groling was an agent of Black Hole...  
  
They sat me in a chair, at a small table where Andy sat tied up. It took them a short amount of time to string me up and then retreated downstairs, almost to let me talk with him.  
  
"Wolf... I'm sorry." Andy began.  
  
"Call me Heckler. I don't really deserve any codename... Hell, never really liked it in the first place."  
  
"Heckler huh? I think I know that name. Yeah, you were the soldier who was in Sami's ranks. They thought you were dead, but you had been changed into an alien soldier. You know, after stories like that. Max got motivated enough to save some POWs of his own."  
  
"Heh." I laughed. "It's nice to be inspirational."  
  
We had a long uncomfortable pause.  
  
"So Groling's one of them huh? Should have known..."  
  
"Why?" Andy seemed confused. "There was no way you could have known."  
  
"Still... it's one of those things... like you should have saw it coming." I remembered Hawke's words. "My whole mission has been a play set up by Hawke. I wasn't really accomplishing anything. I was just being led around to keep Orange Star from bombing the place to hell."  
  
"Yeah, Lash told me all about the plan. She wouldn't shut up about it, cause it was all her idea too." Andy muttered.  
  
My mind shot back to the fact that their Death Ray was fully operational.  
  
"You finished their Death Ray for them?"  
  
"They were going to hurt Jess..." Andy muttered. "I couldn't let that happen."  
  
"You made a tough call kid... I mean Andy. But you did the right thing."  
  
The train lurched, causing Andy to slide into the table and me to almost tip my chair over. It was moving, and soon we'd be heading deep underground to some place where Black Hole could set up their Death Ray and blow someone away.  
  
"Man... why'd they need all that money anyway?" I wondered aloud. "If they got this Death Ray... What's a couple million credits when they can just threaten people to surrender."  
  
"Hawke wanted to rebuild Black Hole." Andy answered. "Well... his Black Hole. I've been around them for awhile... and the alien troops are getting real restless. Hawke wants more humans, mercenaries. He also wants tanks, copters, planes... for a full scale military."  
  
"Yeah... He can't keep this hit-and-run stuff up forever without a full force, but he'll kill a lot of innocent people until he's stopped."  
  
The light that would filter into the windows soon faded and I could see lights in a tunnel whiz by the window. We were in one of those tunnels right now, and there was no way of letting Sami know Black Hole was nowhere near the island right now.  
  
"Hey there... Wolf." I heard a voice call out from the stairs.  
  
I turned my head to see someone I once trusted... and thought of as an ally.  
  
"Groling..." I spat.  
  
-To be Continued  
  
--Next Chapter: Black Line 


	11. Chapter 11: Black Line

Disclaimer and Such:   
  
The Thunderbolt Squadron and all respective characters involved are the creation of RustyD, who's been really cool with letting me use his guys for a guest spot in this fic. If you want to see more, you should check out "The Fighters II" or "Storming Skies" by RustyD. Or any of his stuff is really worth looking at.  
  
-Advance Wars 2  
  
--Death Array  
  
---Chapter 11: Black Line  
  
Groling, or whoever the hell he was, stood at the top of the stairs with this smug look. I'd say he was real proud of his little deception through the course of my mission. Course he wasn't wearing his Green Earth uniform anymore, oh no. Now he wore some black overcoat, and a military cap worn in such a way that it cast a shadow over his eyes. Another quality you couldn't miss was a shiny revolver in a holster at his side.  
  
"Groling." I said again. "Or if that's even your real name..."  
  
"No, I'm afraid Groling is just some Green Earth solider we waxed on the heliport. I had to take his name in my little disguise so Sonja wouldn't throw down a red flag. She's awful nosy you know?"  
  
He sauntered over to a table on the opposite wall from us and sat down on it, crossing his arms.  
  
"So... If it's not Groling... Then what is it? One of those lovable Black Hole codenames?"  
  
"I'm known as Glock, hi-tech special forces CO. I got men with armor second to none. The Neosuit troops are just the tip of the iceberg with me."  
  
"So you're some kind of inventor?" Andy asked.  
  
"No. You could say... I use the toys, but I don't make em'. I leave that to Lash and Cyanide."  
  
"Humph, figures." I looked to his sidearm. "So what's with that gun? Does it shoot shells that are loaded with poison or something? Bounce off the walls crazily?"  
  
He pulled it out and ran the barrel of the gun through his other palm in a smooth and rhythmic motion. There wasn't any sort of twirling or western stuff you'd see with Grit. It just looked like some plain revolver to me.  
  
"Nope, nothing new with this puppy here. Just your typical .44 Special. Six rounds, nice weight and I've gotten use to fanning the hammer too."  
  
I don't know if you're associated with that lingo. But what he's talking about is in those westerns where the shooter uses his hand other hand to set the hammer back real quick and lets them empty the chamber in seconds. Rapid fire the manual way. I don't know a whole lot of people who are good at it. Grit is one, everyone knows that. But I guess Glock is either a copy cat, or he just really loves his gun.  
  
"So why am I still around? Aren't you done with me?" I asked. "You got your Death Ray all fixed up, what's with brining me and Andy along for the ride?"  
  
Glock narrowed his eyes and put his gun away. I made a glance at Andy, like to keep your mouth shut in case he was sent to do me in right there.  
  
"Hawke thinks you'd be a great addition to Black Hole. I don't know what he thinks he's going to accomplish by showing you the destruction of a major city. Maybe... impress you into the forces or something. I tried to convince him, you're way too dangerous to keep around."  
  
"I guess that's your personal experience after working with me huh?"  
  
He nodded and leaned forward while some more visitors soon came up the stairs. I could see Cyanide, Hawke, and two alien grunts in spacesuits. The aliens were both armed with shotguns, so I figured Hawke wasn't picky about what his forces used as long as it did damage.  
  
"Heckler, so glad you could join us." Cyanide smiled.  
  
"Where's Adder and Lash? Oh yeah, not to mention your human brick Flak."  
  
Glock and Cyanide enjoyed my lively attitude, but Hawke remained his usual stoic self.  
  
"Lash is preparing our laser light show." Glock answered.  
  
"And those other two are in the diesel engine, so don't worry your pretty little head about them." She assured me. "Just sit back and enjoy the catastrophe."  
  
Hawke moved past me and the two alien grunts spun my chair around. They just about sliced my arm on the corner of that damn table. It was really sharp... Hey.. wait a second... While I was thinking about a plan, Hawke had moved over to a large flat monitor and pressed a button so that some external camera was looking at the roof of a large car.   
  
I remember seeing that car, it was two or three down from the one we were in. Anyway, it seemed like we had come out of the tunnel, and was now rolling around someone's country. It was nighttime so I couldn't really tell. There wasn't a whole lot of snow around, so I could only assume it wasn't Blue Moon. Maybe we were in Orange Star, I had no way of knowing.  
  
"Watch carefully Heckler." He instructed me, and radioed Lash to start something.  
  
The top of the train car on the monitor began to open up, and a large arm popped out. It kinda looked like some funky "u" on a stick really. Until the second arm of the "u" began to unfold the dish section of their Death Ray. In a matter of minutes, it was ready to blast a city to pieces. Hawke turned back to me and looked me in the eyes.  
  
"The only thing I'll ever enjoy inheriting from Sturm. His Death Ray was more of a scare tactic than a practical weapon. It was stationary, control room poorly guarded from bombs, and the charge time was a horrendous seven days. But now... it's truly a useful weapon. All it needs now is to be taken to our HQ to be watched over."  
  
"Mistress Lash and I have made a great deal of improvement." Cyanide winked at me. "Now, it takes mere hours. Sturm had pulled out all the stops for the development of this one. If it weren't for Andy's quick fixit skills... We would have never gotten it ready on time."  
  
"So... I'll leave you here while I go check one last time with your country. If they refuse, I'll have no choice but to destroy a major population area." He paused to adjust his hat and waved toward Glock and Cyanide to come over to him. "I always get what I want Heckler."  
  
The three Black Hole COs began to huddle up and talk about something. During the big speech on Death Rays and such, I was using the sharp corner of the table to wear away the toughness of my rope. It was almost undone, and one of the alien grunt was standing a bit in front of me. With a final snap, I broke the bonds and jumped up to grab his gun and turn it on his buddy.  
  
There was a thundering bang as I blew out the window and the glass faceplate of the other soldier with the spread fire, and then kicked the soldier I was stealing from to the floor of the car. Hawke, Cyanide and Glock all spun around as I freed Andy and pushed him down the stairs. When we got to the door leading out of this car and to the back of the train, I could already hear Hawke yelling to get guys after us.  
  
"You can't escape Heckler!" Glock yelled.  
  
"That was some quick thinking!" Andy told me as we ran into another car.  
  
"Shut up and run!" I yelled back.  
  
I was really too panicked to think positive right now. I was on a train full of enemies with a death weapon aimed at Orange Star... A regular worst-case scenario. Anyway, the car we entered was some kind of maintenance car... there was tools and broken down guns lying all over the place. And some radios... Hey... Radios! We could use those! While I was getting that, Andy moved to pick up some pipe on the floor and rammed it through the door handle and effectively locking the door for now.  
  
"Sami!" I yelled out after tuning it to my frequency I had with her. "Ma'am? Are you there? Is anyone there?"  
  
I heard a surprised voice answer, and I quickly explained what the hell was going on. It was easy to hear how shocked she was, even though I figured there wasn't a whole lot of surprises left with Black Hole. It was almost expected from them now. Come to think about it, what is it with me and trains anyway? What is that supposed to mean? That I should become a conductor someday? Jeez...  
  
"Look, you need to get the coordinates of that train so we can send a squadron to destroy the Death Ray!"  
  
"I'm working on it! One miracle at a time!"  
  
There was already soldiers kicking at the door Andy had jammed with the pipe. If they were alien soldiers, or Flak, we had no time at all to clear the car before they broke in and started spraying the place with lead. We quickly moved on to the next car, which to my surprise was a missile battery... Oh hell... a missile battery? Andy picked up on my fears quickly.  
  
"Oh man! If they send a squadron... they're gonna get cut up!"  
  
"Think I don't know that?" I snapped back. "It's even worse this whole train is black! They won't see what's coming until it's too late! We gotta sabotage it somehow!"  
  
"How? We don't have any explosives..."  
  
A metallic ping interrupted our conversation as we saw Glock enter the car with his .44 blazing. When I think about it... he had grazed the bridge of my nose with that shot. My adrenaline was way too high to feel any pain though.  
  
"Come on! Let's move!"  
  
"Heckler!" Glock yelled. "You can't win! Not now! Not after we worked together! I know how you operate!"  
  
Almost as if to confirm his words, I turned around to fire on him, which he promptly took cover behind the door to the car. It was a straight shot through the missile car. The rest of it was occupied with generators and reserve missiles. Hell, I was lucky I didn't blow us all up. I felt a whole hell of a lot better when we got out of that place...  
  
Of course, the next car we entered was the Death Ray car. Man, it was really close. Maybe I could smash the controls or something... I don't know what I was thinking, because the controls were on an upper level behind a locked door in a room with Lash and ten other soldiers. Andy let me in on the enemy count, and I knew any sort of attempt to break into the room was suicide. We had to keep moving, and find some other way.  
  
There was another missile battery car after we got out of the Death Ray car, and Glock caught up with us again, except this time he had friends. A couple soldiers from Lash's room broke off to pursue us, and they were packing their lovable gun arms too.   
  
I shot back, but I was careful not to empty the clip on automatic mode. I didn't have any extra 12 gauge shells... Once I ran out... I ran out. Onto the next car, it was some kind of fancy meeting room with all sorts of monitors and laptops. Andy pushed one of the big cushy chairs up against the door and took a breather. It was then I realized how tired I was.  
  
"Oh man... we're never gonna disable that thing. We need the air strike now!"  
  
"Don't be so negative." I began, out of breath. "We don't even know if they're ready to fire yet."  
  
Course, I had to open my big mouth and I looked over to one of the laptops to see a countdown and the trajectory of the Death Ray shot. I had roughly an hour to think of something good... but at least that little map of where the Death Ray was shooting had coordinates and I quickly called Sami to relay our location. We were in Northern Orange Star, around where Flak has his factory in the second Black Hole Invasion.  
  
"Copy that, Good work! We just scrambled the Thunderbolt Squadron from Dawn Airbase. ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) is half an hour! Your objectives now are to get Andy and yourself off of that train!"  
  
"No good ma'am. I meant to tell you. They got missiles, lots of missiles. They won't stand a chance when they get here!"  
  
"Don't worry, they're the best we have! Now get out of there!"  
  
Sami didn't understand. This whole train was painted jet black. From the sky at night, you wouldn't even be able to see the Death Ray. Not to mention this train was moving at a good click. How fast am I talking? Like jumping from it would be the equivalent of jumping out of a car going 80 on the highway. And let's not forget all the trees on the side of the track. Hell... we had to slow this thing down, or stop it altogether.  
  
But those missiles... the Thunderbolts were going to get cut down before they knew what hit them. Hawke just about thought of everything for this. Still, I was on that train... I was going to do something... Even if it wasn't very smart.  
  
The chair didn't hold the door for long, and it was only the table and the monitors that kept us from getting blasted by Glock and the soldiers after us. The next area of the train was different... it was that big flatbed car with the T Copter and Flak's Big Bertha on it. Andy was making a break for the other end as I came to a dead stop in front of Big Bertha and looked it over.  
  
"Heckler! What are you doing? Glock's gonna be here any second! You're gonna get shot!"  
  
Without so much as giving him a heads up on what I was doing, I scrambled up the side of the tank and opened up the main hatch to get in. I think when I disappeared into it, Andy got the hint and followed after me. Now we were both inside Big Bertha, as I was fooling around with the controls to get it started.  
  
"Whatcha thinking?" Andy asked me frantically. "We need to keep moving."  
  
"No, we need to stay right here."  
  
I pressed the switch to throw the tank on and soon looked toward the camera positioned directly over the main cannon. It was aimed directly at the meeting room car we had just exited. When Andy saw that, I think he got the picture and began to work the straps to the seat he was in around his body. Me? I was too eager looking for the cannon switch to think about all the recoil I was about to get.  
  
A red button flashed as the onboard computer detected armed individuals, and I could see Glock on the turret camera kick open the door with his .44 ready to go. There was a split second, when he was confused why he couldn't see us. Then he looked toward the tank, and made an silent "no" with his mouth. I couldn't say I felt very sorry for him as I finally located the switch and pressed it.  
  
"Goodbye Groling." I said, and the tank roared off a Neotank round straight ahead.  
  
The whole tank shook with the chains holding it down and I nearly bashed my head into the control console in front of me. Andy let out a scream of surprise as the round I fired went forward, blew up the meeting room car and kept going to level the missile car. The small bits of audio we picked up was a chorus of whizzing sounds as the missiles were set off and launched in any and all directions.  
  
Some hit the Death Ray, some hit our car, some snaked around the Death Ray and hit the other missile car. Hell, I bet the whole train was lit on fire with that explosion. Man, what was I thinking? It sounded like someone was going crazy with fireworks. I finally had the sense to put on the seatbelt and simply tried to watch the monitor the best I could.  
  
Then a stray missile hit the tank and killed the video feed before rattling us good again. It was at least five minutes before Andy popped the hatch and let us get out to survey all the damage I had just done. Yeah, like I said before, what the hell was I thinking?  
  
"Whoa!" Andy muttered in amazement.  
  
"Well uh yeah..." I said acting as if I knew what I was doing. "I bet the Thunderbolts can see the train now."  
  
It seemed to me, that the whole train was lit up from caboose to diesel engine. But to my dismay, it was still moving and a quick look let me know that the other missile car had made it out just fine. Jumping was still out. For some reason, I looked down, and saw Glock clutching a couple of chains holding the tank down. I suppose he did it to keep himself from being thrown off the car. I wasn't really surprised. Even with his funny new armor, he was really rattled though, and his face was black from the smoke residue after the blast.  
  
"Guess you're still... full of surprises..." Glock coughed at me. "Death Ray's still gonna fire though... So I'm not mad... Hawke was right though... you'd make one hell of a soldier."  
  
His head soon fell forward as he dropped his gun. I jumped down as fast as I could to grab his weapon and put it a pocket of mine. Andy soon popped his head out over the side of the tank to see what had happened to Glock.  
  
"Is he dead?"  
  
"Oh." I responded in an annoyed tone as I check his pulse. "We could only hope to be so lucky. But no, he's still kicking. Let's get out of here before he pulls a blasted magic trick or something."  
  
"What are we going to do now? There's no way we can reach the diesel train after that stunt! The two cars we used to get back here are totaled!"  
  
I stood up to see his point. The meeting room car and the missile car I had leveled were smoldering pieces of scrap. I had effectively cut us off from the rest of the train... unless we wanted to traverse melted metal and broken glass to get back to the front. And that wasn't gonna happen. I punched the tank in anger. That was a big lack of foresight on my part. I just saw Big Bertha and thought "shoot".  
  
"Wolf! Do you read? Where are you?" Sami asked.  
  
"Still on the train. What's going on with the Thunderbolts?"  
  
"They'll be there in five minutes! Their flight leader reported some sort of explosion, the train is completely visible now."  
  
Hell... I didn't expect to kill that much time... But we were as good as dead if we tried to jump. The forest line was that close. We'd wrap ourselves around a tree for sure. Jumping off the back was just as bad, it'd only be with the uncomfortable metal tracks instead of the wooden trees. Man, our guys were en-route to blow this whole piece of scrap apart. Except we were still on the train with no way out...  
  
-To be Continued...  
  
--Next Chapter: Last Stop 


	12. Chapter 12 Finale: Last Stop

Disclaimer and Such:   
  
The Thunderbolt Squadron and all respective characters involved are the creation of RustyD, who's been really cool with letting me use his guys for a guest spot in this fic. If you want to see more, you should check out "The Fighters II" or "Storming Skies" by RustyD. Or any of his stuff is really worth looking at.  
  
-Advance Wars 2  
  
--Death Array  
  
---Chapter 12: Last Stop  
  
I could see and hear the lone operating missile car reposition itself to let loose a volley of anti-air missiles. The fire and squeak of the barely operating turret made it easy to see that the Thunderbolts were coming in head on. I'm pretty sure the whole urgency of warning them about it was just to make me feel better, but any mission involving Black Hole is asking for trouble. I figured they could use all the help they could get.  
  
Andy was pacing the flatbed car as I got their frequencies from Sami. I had to tell the flight leader they were heading right into the crosshairs, and to know if that recent fire had hit anyone.  
  
"Hello? Anyone receiving up there?" I asked quickly, while watching the missile battery reposition itself, it was locking on to someone.  
  
Man, what was the range on that thing anyway?  
  
"This is Glenn Gordon, flight leader of the Thunderbolts. What's going on?"  
  
It was the muffled kind of response, like they were speaking through a helmet and facemask, you know, the type normally associated with flying a fighter jet.  
  
"Look, you guys need to stay south of your target... and you better hurry up! They got a missile car, and it's shooting at someone up there."  
  
The way I saw it, the Death Ray was a big shield from the side I had blown their missile battery up. They'd have to fire into or up and around, which was impossible, to tag any enemy fighters after them. The second car was supposed to eliminate this problem, but I kinda blew it up.  
  
"Copy that, let's move 'Bolts'. Now you guys on the ground better take some kind of cover, we're about to drop the sky on your position."  
  
Hell, he didn't have to tell me twice. I figured, maybe we ought to get back into that Neotank. It had to be the most armored thing on this train, especially after I leveled two cars with it's cannon. Frantically, I waved Andy back into the tank and shut the hatch tightly. I swear, if I had it, I'd be using duct tape. I hoped this new giant Neotank could take an air strike from fighter jets, or our asses were cooked.  
  
Then we could both feel it, a single thump that seemed to quicken as the train moved on. What was one, soon became two, then three, then four, in a rapid succession until we could hear the explosions land on the tank. It took some punishment, but eventually it's systems shut off leaving us in the dark. Damn piece of junk. My heart nearly stopped when a piece of the hull snapped off like a busted toy and the roaring explosions from the missile strike rushed into the tank.  
  
It was deafening, if I didn't know better, I'd say those guys were shooting at us. But I forgot, we were two cars down from the Death Ray. Almost ground zero no matter what you do and I was sure as hell they were hitting it with everything they had. Soon, the both of us were thrown forward as the train came to a screeching halt. I prayed they didn't derail the damn thing, I was tired of being thrown around in this tin can.  
  
Before too long, everything was silent, and only the wind was making any confirmation we were still alive. Man, I also don't really know when I popped the hatch and soon tumbled out of the tank. They HAD derailed the train, or at least the section closest to the Death Ray. Our car and a couple others had gone with it and when the flatbed jumped the tracks, it sent the Neotank rolling into a tree  
  
Now I was lying on the grass looking upwards trying to get my bearings after that air strike. When you looked at the Neotank, you knew they hit that train hard. The legs had been blown off, and the shiny black paint job had been burned off to reveal the bare gunmetal gray color associated with metal.  
  
"Uh... Andy, it's all clear, come on out."  
  
He moaned something back to me along the lines of 'I'm okay', but stayed in the tank for awhile. I was looking around, seeing all the trees that were either on fire or crushed under debris. Only a burning skeleton of the Death Ray remained as it's dish had been punched through like a fist into a piece of paper. Parts of the train had been thrown everywhere, looked like a damn... uh... it looked like a train wreck... I could vaguely hear jets flying by overhead, they were pretty low.  
  
"Wolf? Wolf? You there?" I could hear Sami's voice, it sounded anxious.  
  
"Yeah I'm here... just barely though."  
  
I heard a big sigh on her end.  
  
"How did you survive?" She couldn't help but asking. "Actually, never mind, save it for the debriefing. We're sending copters to your location for immediate evac. Just sit tight... and outstanding work Wolf."  
  
When the call was over, Andy crawled out of the overturned tank with his hair sticking up like he put his fingers in an electric socket. I helped him up and we both began to walk alongside the tracks of the wasted train. To observe the damage. Man, these guys didn't destroy the train, they wiped it from the face the earth. And it was precision striking too... the forest looked relatively unharmed if the debris from the train didn't flatten them.  
  
"Damn, those guys don't mess around." I muttered.  
  
"Of course not. They're only the best squadron Orange Star has." Andy told me.  
  
I did a double take, and then really started to think about it. Oh hell... those Thunderbolts? With... Glenn Gordon? The ex-Green Earth fighter pilot guy who was on the news? What the hell was I thinking? I mean, I've flown jets before... but I'm more of a guy who stays on the ground when it comes to vehicles. Urg... I think I came off rather insulting with the whole, stay south of the Death Ray stuff.  
  
"Dammit Andy, why didn't you tell me sooner?" I turned on him, just angry at myself at that point.  
  
"I thought you knew... I mean really... It's not like it was a secret or anything."  
  
"Oh well, I think I was a bit preoccupied with Death Rays and guys named Glock shooting at us to really think about it." I answered sarcastically. "But no, it didn't cross my mind for a second."  
  
We probably could have bickered like that for a bit longer, but we had made it closer to the front of the train, and now we could see bodies.... or what was left of the bodies. I saw some mercenaries and some alien guys... But I was really looking for Black Hole VIPs... surely they got taken out all in one strike... Course, that's wishful thinking on my part, cause I didn't see anyone.  
  
"Man... where's their bosses?" I mumbled. "They couldn't have gotten far..."  
  
Rotors soon filled the air, and we looked up expecting to see some orange paintjob of a transport copter. But instead it was pitch black... Black Hole copters... It was flying away from us, and keeping really low, probably to avoid getting picked off by the Thunderbolts. Course I didn't know if they were still around after blowing the train up. That's one thing you can count on Hawke for, a good escape if things turn sour. After the disappearing act he pulled during "The Great Sea Battle" you could almost call him a master of escape.  
  
"Aw man..." Andy groaned.  
  
I could see what he was groaning about. The door was still open and we could see perfectly Flak, Lash, Hawke, and the rest of them. None of them were looking at us, just kind of staring off into space as if they didn't believe their little toy just got ripped up by a flock of fighters. Andy and I just watched as their copter disappeared over the tops of the trees and into the horizon.  
  
"I bet you twenty bucks they'll be back." I told Andy.  
  
"I'm not taking that bet." He fired back, and we both gave a small grin.  
  
----------------------------------------  
  
Copter rides were so much fun after all that. I didn't have to run, or slide, or hide anymore. I could just sit down on cold seat in a T. Copter and relax. I got on one when I radioed to Sami it was all over. Good thing Black Hole took us home with their train, so when the copter picked us up... all we had to do was enjoy a short ride to Dawn Airbase where Sami, Nell, and who knows who else could meet us halfway.  
  
Andy was real excited, cause he didn't have to play the part of the prisoner anymore and could get back to his commanding job. I was sure as hell going to stick with the groups the next time. I still can't believe I subjected myself to a solo mission willingly. Course, I did make it out alive more or less... so maybe it wasn't the worst idea. I think I snapped out of my retrospect when the pilot told us we were about to land.  
  
I remember stepping out in my torn, burned, cut, and overall crappy orange uniform in the face of my CO and supreme Commander. Andy was real excited to get back home and didn't waste a second greeting Sami. Seemed like he just got all his enthusiastic energy back. Couldn't say I was as happy as he was, I was just really tired. Explosions and tanks and Death Rays... all kind of exhausting really.  
  
"Heckler! Good job on a mission well done!" Sami greeted me out in the middle of the helipad. "I'm proud of you soldier!"  
  
We began to move away from the noisy copter and towards some hangars. I could see some fighter jets and a group of eight people... But Sami had my attention right now.  
  
"Yeah well..." I started slowly. "Wasn't much of a mission. Hawke was onto me the whole time. That Groling guy was actually one of theirs... With me running around, I was just keeping you from bombing the place."  
  
Sami kind of frowned in that way that made you stand straight up and think over your words. You knew you made a mistake and you just hoped there was a chance to make up for it in the future.  
  
"You forget about saving Jess so quickly? Green Earth owes you a bit of thanks, in fact after this, they want you to meet with their leaders for a more direct gratitude. You can count on Eagle and Drake being there too."  
  
As honorable as that sounded, I didn't really look forward to any sort of long distance travel. I just wanted to stay home and sit on my ass for a few days, and remember what it was like when you were just a nobody soldier in Orange Star. I don't know why I was so negative in all... I think I wasn't feeling well.  
  
"Yeah, so I saved a couple big wigs. I sure as hell didn't blow any Death Ray up. Why don't you go congratulate the Thunderbolts? I just kinda pointed them in the right direction."  
  
"About that." Sami began. "The pilots want to meet you, the 'Crazy Wolf' as one of them put it."  
  
Errrrr.... as fun as that sounded. I still remember how I tried to talk to them like they were a bunch of guys out of flight school. The moment kinda rusted my memory. If anything it was me who wanted to meet them. The Thunderbolts. You know, that's just as good as meeting the president or anyone else who was a celebrity. Especially since they took on a Black Cannon. Wow. You felt like if they could destroy that thing, anything else Black Hole had was peanuts.  
  
Then I remembered the eight or so pilots I saw earlier coming out of the hangar. Oh man... it was them. So soon? I needed to think up a good apology too... Too late for that now I guess. Yeah, like I said, eight of them, all in flight suits with helmets in hands. Man, they had such shiny new stuff... and I was all raggedy and looking like I came out of an chimney.   
  
But before I could even say a word, this one guy with a cocky grin rushed over to me and began to shake my hand like there was an earthquake going on.  
  
"Well well, if it ain't the Crazy Wolf! We need more nutcases like you on the ground, makes our job a whole lot easier!" He laughed.  
  
"Huh?" I could only utter.  
  
"Easy Tux, he's been through a lot." I recognized the guy's voice as Glenn. "Why don't you go easy on his arm before you break it."  
  
First time I saw him really. It's funny to hear someone and then meet them or maybe my logic was short circuiting with the lack of rest. He had brown hair. Man, what I would give for normal hair after mine was changing colors like a fuggin' rainbow because of Lash's operation. When you look at him, you know why he's the flight leader. I figured cause he was ex-Green Earth. Which means he got the best possible schooling on how to fly a fighter from Eagle. But it wasn't that, it's cause he always looks so under control.  
  
"Aw... come on Glenn." Tux began. "I'm just thanking him for setting the train on fire like he did. That way we didn't have to shoot at the ground like a chicken with it's head cut off!"  
  
"Hey Tux." The blond headed female pilot spoke up. "You aren't the only one who wants to meet him."  
  
"Yeah of course Rainey." He answered with a smug grin and stepped back to give her room. " It's just it's not everyday we can blow up Black Hole's baby. I can't wait to put that on my resume. And I got to meet the Crazy Wolf! Bout' time something interesting happened around here. That reminds me, how come I don't have a codename?"  
  
"You'll probably get one when you do something relevant." Rainey told him.  
  
The Tux guy went on about some other stuff... I wasn't really paying attention. My view had shifted to these two guys standing off to the side. Wow, they were stark contrast to their other wingmen. One guy looked like a someone from Blue Moon... I guess it was the nose or something. I'd seen it before somewhere. Then there was this big guy... his build reminded me of Flak. Even though he was nowhere near the size of Black Hole's muscle man, he still had the same body build.  
  
Glenn glanced over his shoulders knowing who I was looking at and introduced them, even if they didn't want to do it themselves.  
  
"Those two are Zodo Gallow and Fel Banon."  
  
Then, as if Zodo and Fel had felt that had participated enough, walked off after being identified. Heh, friendly folks those two, but I guess they wouldn't be on the Thunderbolts if they didn't have some skills. Reminded me of Victor on my old unit. The guy never talked, but he knew his explosives. I didn't give it much more thought, maybe they were as just as tired as I was.  
  
Of the last three who I hadn't got acquainted with yet, there was a really young guy for being a fighter pilot... But hey, with Andy as a commander, I suppose if you're good you're in or something like that. Glenn said his name was Tristan Royal and he was ok. Tux was sure to open his mouth and fire off a couple comments or two. But I wasn't really listening... man, how did you fly with a guy like Tux on your team?  
  
"Hey there, I'm James Heckler." I greeted the last two guys with.  
  
The smaller of the two didn't say anything, but shook my hand and vaguely nodded. If I didn't know better, I'd say he barely understood a word I said.  
  
"You'll have to excuse ol' Achmed." The larger guy spoke up. "He's not exactly from around these parts."  
  
Achmed vaguely nodded his head. From my perspective, I couldn't say he was from Yellow Comet, and that was probably the most foreign place I could think of off the top of my head. But no, he wasn't from Yellow Comet, Achmed was probably from one of those neutral territories that aren't even on the map. You know, no military and no designation.  
  
"I'm Bubba Boggs." The big guy spoke up again after a time. "Nice to meet cha'. You look like a pig who's had himself a mud bath."  
  
"Yeah, I feel like it too."  
  
"He'd go perfect with your ol' junk heap you call a truck." Tux laughed.  
  
They got into a seperate conversation and I found a perfect moment to get back over to Glenn Gordon.  
  
"Hey Gordon..." I began. "What was it like when you were well known? I remember... you were on the TV."  
  
He gave a small laugh and tilted his head back.  
  
"I remember getting tons of calls from news stations, watching the TV didn't help, and until I got back in the air I felt like crap. I don't recommend retiring after stuff like this. You should stick with what you're best at."  
  
Well, we probably would have talked some more, but we had to move off to debrief with our superiors. Oh well, it's always nice to meet important people. Those couple minutes with the Thunderbolts are just as good as with any CO in my book. We were giving a farewell salute when Nell approached... and keeping in respect, we had to do it again to greet her.  
  
"It's soldiers like you that make Orange Star the best." Nell smiled. "If you don't mind, Lieutenant Gordon... I would like to meet with your squadron later."  
  
He didn't seem to mind... at least, as far as I could tell and took off along with the others. Well, this scene seemed familiar. Nell calling me up and escorting me to a secure location to talk.  
  
"Congratulations on a successful mission."  
  
"I don't suppose I'll be getting any press conferences?"  
  
"Well, Wars World already knows about the Death Ray. Another is no big secret. But I would like to classify your mission for certain reasons."  
  
"Hell..." I was too tired to think at that rate, to care about cussing in front of a superior... the supreme commander of all things. "Just don't call me for these type of missions again. I'm actually looking toward getting back into my unit ma'am. If you don't mind."  
  
"Not at all."  
  
I gave a weak salute and began to walk off across the base. Oh man... I forgot about that damn debriefing. Maybe they wouldn't mind too much if I saved it for later... much later. After ten years of sleep or something. This feeling was all to familiar... But it's not like I could help it. Where's the nearest bed?  
  
-The End  
  
--Thanks for Reading  
  
Author's Notes and Such:   
  
Woo! It's done! My longest fic yet! 12 chapters. Oh well, that may or may not be very long to some people. But I hope I kept it going for a decent length before finishing it up.   
  
Oh yeah, and RustyD, if you somehow want to include James Heckler or any of the guys in his unit in a small cameo or whatnot since I used your Thunderbolt guys. Feel free. It'll be along the same conditions you gave me. No killing or disfiguring. Hopefully, I handled your characters the best I could and didn't write Tux up too wild. Thanks again for letting me using them.  
  
Anyway, for anyone and everyone else who read the fic. Thanks for tuning in! Until next time. Oh yeah, real quick. On a small note, I've begun to put "The Blue Moon Show!" into the works. We'll see how that turns out. Thanks for reading! 


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